All that matters
by MikeGeneFrom the Washington Post story,we read:
Scott, of the NCSE, insisted that Smithsonian scientists had no choice but to explore Sternberg's religious beliefs. "They don't care if you are religious, but they do care a lot if you are a creationist," Scott said. "Sternberg denies it, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it argues for zealotry."
Hmmmm.
Richard Sternberg holds a PhD in Systems Science (where he won a Distinguished Dissertation Award) and another PhD in Molecular Evolution. According to the Washington Post article, "his graduate work draws praise from his former professors." Also, "in 2000 he gained a coveted research associate appointment at the Smithsonian Institution." And after all the controversy, his supervisor, Jonathan Coddington, described him as an "an established and respected scientist."
And here are Sternberg's publications since 1992:
1. Sternberg, R. v., G.E. Novick, G.-P. Gao, & R.J. Herrera (1992). Genome canalization: the coevolution of transposable and interspersed repetitive elements with single copy DNA. Genetica 86: 215-246.
2. Sternberg, R. v. & D.C. Yoch (1993). Molecular cloning and sequencing of the ferredoxin I fdxN gene of the purple bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1144: 435-438.
3. Sternberg, R. v. (1994). Systematic implications of color pattern polymorphism in Goniopsis pulchra (Decapoda: Brachyura: Grapsidae) from Ecuador. Proc. Biol. Soc.Wash. 107: 721-728.
4. Sternberg, R. v. & H. Motoh (1995). Notes on the phylogeny of the American Penaeus shrimps (Decapoda: Dendrobranchiata: Penaeidae). Crust. Res. 24: 146-156.
5. Sternberg, R. v. (1996). The role of constrained self-organization in genome structural evolution. Acta Biotheoretica 44: 95-118.
6. Sternberg, R. v. (1996). Carcinization as an underlying synapomorphy for the decapod crustacean taxon Meiura. Evol. Theory 11: 153-162.
7. Sternberg, R. v. (1996). Genome self-modification and cellular control of genome reorganization. Riv. Biol./Biol. Forum 89: 445-484.
8. Sternberg, R. v. (1997). The phylogenetic and systematic position of the Penaeus subgenus Litopenaeus (Decapoda: Dendrobranchiata: Penaeidae). Rev. Biol. Trop. 44(3)/45(1): 441-451.
9. Sternberg, R. v. (1997). Cladistics of the freshwater crab family Trichodactylidae (Crustacea: Decapoda): appraising the reappraisal. J. Comp. Biol. 2: 49-62.
10. RodrÃguez, G. & R. v. Sternberg (1998). Revision of the freshwater crabs of the family Pseudothelphusidae (Decapoda: Brachyura) from Ecuador. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 111: 110-139.
11. Sternberg, R. v. (1998). The sister group of the freshwater crab family Trichodactylidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Eubrachyura). J. Comp. Biol. 3: 93-101.
12. Sternberg, R. v. & G. Klir (1998). Generative archetypes and taxa: a fuzzy set formalization. Riv. Biol./Biol. Forum 92: 403-423.
13. Sternberg, R. v., N. Cumberlidge, & G. RodrÃguez (1999). On the marine sister groups of the freshwater crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda). J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 37: 19-38.
14. Sternberg, R. v. & N. Cumberlidge (1999). A cladistic analysis of the genus Platythelphusa A. Milne-Edwards, 1887 from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Decapoda: Potamoidea: Platythelphusidae) with comments on the phylogenetic position of the group. J. Nat. Hist. 33: 493-511.
15. Cumberlidge, N., R. v. Sternberg, R. Bills, & H. Martin (1999). A revision of the genus Platythelphusa A. Milne-Edwards, 1887 from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Decapoda: Potamoidea: Platythelphusidae). J. Nat. Hist. 33: 1487-1512.
16. Sternberg, R. v., L.A. Galindo, & E.M. González (1999). Cladistic analysis of the Eudaniela species complex (Crustacea: Decapoda: Pseudothelphusidae). Hydrobiologia 416: 139-147.
17. Cumberlidge, N. & R. v. Sternberg (1999). Phylogenetic relationships of the freshwater crabs of Lake Tanganyika (Decapoda, Brachyura). In: "Crustaceans and the Biodiversity Crisis", F.R. Schram & J.C. von Vaupel Klein (eds.), Brill, Leiden, pp. 405-422.
18. Sternberg, R. v. (2000). Genomes and form: the case for teleomorphic recursivity. In: "Closure: Emergent Organizations and their Dynamics," J.L.R. Chandler and G. van de Vijer (eds.), Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 901: 224-236.
19. Sternberg, R. v. & N. Cumberlidge (2000). Taxic relationships within the Grapsidae MacLeay, 1838 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Eubrachyura). J. Comp. Biol. 3(2): 115-136.
20. Sternberg, R. v. & N. Cumberlidge (2001). On the heterotreme-thoracotreme distinction in the Eubrachyura De Saint Laurent, 1980 (Decapoda, Brachyura). Crustaceana 74(4): 321-338.
21. Sternberg, R. v. & N. Cumberlidge (2001). Notes on the position of the true freshwater crabs in the brachyrhynchan Eubrachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda). Hydrobiologia 449(1/3): 21-39.
22. Lemaitre, R., J. GarcÃa-Gómez, R. v. Sternberg, & E. Campos (2001). A new genus and species of goneplacid crab (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Goneplacidae) from the Caribbean. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 114(4): 938-943.
23. Cumberlidge, N. & R. v. Sternberg (2002). The freshwater crabs of Madagascar (Crustacea: Decapoda: Potamoidea). Zoosystema 24(1): 41-79.
24. Sternberg, R. v. (2002). The roles of repetitive DNA elements in the context of a unified genomic/epigenetic system. In "From Epigenesis to Epigenetics: The Genome in Context," L. van Speybroek, G. van de Vijver, and D. De Waele (eds.), Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 981: 154-188.
25. Sternberg, R. v. & N. Cumberlidge (2003). Autapomorphies of the endophragmal system in trichodactylid freshwater crabs. J. of Morphology 256: 23-28.
26. Sternberg, R. v. (2003). Review: "Development and Evolution: Complexity and Change in Biology," by Stanley N. Salthe. International J. General Systems 32: 96-98.27. Cumberlidge, N. and R. v. Sternberg (2003). The freshwater crabs of Madagascar. In: The Natural History of Madagascar, eds. Steven M. Goodman and Jon Benstead, University of Chicago Press, pp. 612-617.
28. Cavanaugh, D.P. & R. v. Sternberg (2004). Analysis of morphological groupings using ANOPA, a pattern recognition and multivariate statistical method: a case Study involving centrarchid fishes. J. Biol. Systems 12: 137-167.
29. Salthe, S. N. & R. v. Sternberg. Complex systems and explanation. In the journal Nature's: "Encyclopedia of the Human Genome" (in press).
30. Sternberg, R. v. & M. Schotte (2004). A new species of the anchialine shrimp genus Procaris (Decapoda: Caridea: Procarididae) from Mexico. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 117(4) (in press).
31. Shapiro, J.A. & R. v. Sternberg. Why repetitive DNA is essential for genome function. Biol. Rev. (Cambridge) ___ [full citation coming].
32. Sternberg, R. v. & J. A. Shapiro. How repeated retroelements format genome function. Cytogenet. Genome Res. ___ [full citation coming].
My, that looks more impressive that Richard Dawkins' CV.
But none of this matters. What matters is if "you are a creationist." Correction "“ what matters if you "walk like a duck and quack like a duck" [wink, wink]. Why? "It argues for zealotry."
Did you get that? By all objective and independent criteria, Sternberg is a competent and established scientist. It wouldn't matter if Sternberg had four PhD's and 200 publications. Why? We simply tap dance around the inconvenient data and employ tunnel vision guided by conspiracy theories and subjective impressions in order to discredit Sternberg as a "zealot."
Is this where the scientific community really wants to go?
August 20th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
Hi Mike,
"What matters is if "you are a creationist." Correction – what matters if you "walk like a duck and quack like a duck" [wink, wink]."
This reminds me of a scene in Monty Python and The Holy Grail, in which a mob of villagers ask one of the knights permission to burn a witch. To determine whether she's a witch, the knight develops an elaborate argument that the reason witches burn is because they're made out of wood, and if they're made out of wood, they should weigh the same as a duck (as both ducks and wood float). Perhaps Scott's argument should be rephrased, "if you float like a duck…"
Comment by Krauze — August 20, 2005 @ 2:15 pm
August 21st, 2005 at 3:52 am
"if you float like a duck"¦"
they can burn you down?
Comment by DsP — August 21, 2005 @ 3:52 am
August 21st, 2005 at 4:08 am
Hi DsP,
Maybe rather, "If he floats like a duck, he's a creationist. And then harassing him at his workplace is okay."
Comment by Krauze — August 21, 2005 @ 4:08 am
August 21st, 2005 at 11:25 am
Are we saying he is a duck because he is a quackpot?
Comment by MikeGene — August 21, 2005 @ 11:25 am
August 21st, 2005 at 2:26 pm
More evidence for Scott's duck theory – check out the name of one of Sternberg's PhD advisors. The plot thickens.
Comment by MikeGene — August 21, 2005 @ 2:26 pm
August 21st, 2005 at 3:21 pm
Hi Mike,
"More evidence for Scott's duck theory – check out the name of one of Sternberg's PhD advisors."
From Sternberg's curriculum vitae:
Note especially the last syllable of his last name. Might this be another piece of evidence for the vast right-wing conspiracy? (In 1991, it would of course have been Bush Sr. pulling the puppet strings.)
Comment by Krauze — August 21, 2005 @ 3:21 pm
August 22nd, 2005 at 2:16 pm
[...] ta-jester, from Real Physics on Darwinian Inquisition! http://telicthoughts.com/?p=22... http://telicthoughts.com/?p=22... Jeff Kouba's Blog, "Scientists Are Hardly New Priesthood" A [...]
Pingback by Teleological » Sternberg is right. However, OSC is closing his case for ‘technical’ reasons. — August 22, 2005 @ 2:16 pm
August 25th, 2005 at 8:57 pm
Um, regardless of his publications, they found that he was part of several Young Earth Creationist organizations. That gave them pause, especially considering the bizarre circumstances of the article ending up in that particular journal. Given that the subject matter was pretty far outside the subject of the journal, and given that no one else had been consulted about this highly controversial article before he entered it in at the very end of his term, they had every reason to think that something fishy was going on. Finding out his involvement with YEC groups and assuming that he might be a creationist is pretty far from a crazy inference.
To use an analougy: if someone put an article about how George Bush is a bad man into a cooking magazine, and the editors looked into their past and found that they had volunteered for several Democratic campaigns, would it be all that crazy to assume partisan political motives? Especially if the article in question barely even mentioned cooking, the normal subject of the magazine?
Comment by plunge — August 25, 2005 @ 8:57 pm