Hee. Okay. Will add it to the data points when reccing books to you :) I think my love for this book has to do with the idea that science ought to be pure, and at its best really is pure (either Cliff saw something or he didn't; either the data is corrupted or it isn't), but because it's done by humans, is rarely pure. And that tension is something I don't feel in non-science disciplines, where I'm more likely to say what you said ("yes, it's complex and emotional and interpersonal; okay fine").
...That may be just to say that science is the one thing in my life that I've managed to retain some measure of idealism (naivete?) about (as opposed, say, to politics), so there's that.
So who did you think was the (closest thing to a) villain of the book? (I say Cliff, Abigail Nussbaum says Jacob -- which I think has a lot to do with how one feels about science; you will be unsurprised to hear that I never got past the OMG FABRICATING DATA THIS IS TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY WRONG knee-jerk reaction. I mean, I can see why Nussbaum thinks Jacob is the villain, but I can't feel it.)
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momijizukamori and
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Date: 2012-03-20 02:00 pm (UTC)...That may be just to say that science is the one thing in my life that I've managed to retain some measure of idealism (naivete?) about (as opposed, say, to politics), so there's that.
So who did you think was the (closest thing to a) villain of the book? (I say Cliff, Abigail Nussbaum says Jacob -- which I think has a lot to do with how one feels about science; you will be unsurprised to hear that I never got past the OMG FABRICATING DATA THIS IS TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY WRONG knee-jerk reaction. I mean, I can see why Nussbaum thinks Jacob is the villain, but I can't feel it.)