(account deleted) 30 Sep 2010 20:43
About a week ago, I met a tourist here named Graham Howard (not Hancock). He used to be a librarian at MIT, where he was in charge of the books donated by Thomas Kuhn, and also served as Noam Chomsky's librarian.
Graham is an amateur astronomer who's interested in the sociology of science, so it was natural that he chose an astronomy-related topic for his doctoral thesis. He entitled it "Legitimating Astronomy". It studies how astronomers make their case to funding agencies. Graham recommended that I read the chapter entitled "Boundary Work in Astronomy", dealing with (among other things) the distinctions astronomers establish between their own work and pseudosciences.
I found the chapter (it's #4) interesting and well-written. Here are the links:
To download the whole thesis:
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=0&article=1333&context=theses&type=additional
To download a summary:
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1333&context=theses
The link to the page where you can select the above links:
http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/333/.
Please note that on that page, the link for downloading the complete thesis is the one labeled "02Whole.pdf".
"I was glad to be able to answer him promptly and with confidence. Without hesitation, I told him I didn't know." Mark Twain
