Erroneous Information by Experts

mbpi at juno.com mbpi at juno.com
Thu Jul 26 10:51:55 EDT 2001


Now that I'm "back in circulation," after dropping out to comply with
other more pressing butterfly-related endeavors,  I came across some
published faux pas that struck me as pretty poor editing for someone like
Robert Michael Pyle.  And this is NOT meant to be "an attack," but a
cautionary  observation that even the most proficient and well-known Yale
graduated PhDs CAN disseminate erroneous information, despite their
credentials (!)

In his book, "Handbook for Butterfly Watchers," there is a drawing of
five chrysalids, ALL of which are incorrectly IDed...no doubt, the result
of editing.  Likewise, in the Stokes book, "The Butterfly Guide," a
Viceroy chrysalis is misidentified as a "Red Spotted Purple..."  These
are both examples of books written for the general public...

Which just goes to show:  everyone is fallible, even the "experts." 
Nobody can "do it all" without making mistakes, as these examples
represent.  The best teacher is "personal experience and observation,"
which is why science is constantly "in flux" with new discoveries...be it
amateur or professional.  There is nothing "wrong" in questioning the
experts/professionals... it keeps them on their toes and forces them to
maintain their grounding in the reality of human fallibility.

We all need the input of others to keep things interesting and push us to
higher levels of understanding and knowledge...which should be a
life-long process.

Smug complacency is the "death" of our existence...challenge to our
presumptuous status quo is our "life force."

M.B. Prondzinski
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl 
 


More information about the Leps-l mailing list