John, My comments follow your.
> Guido Braem is quite right in, if I interpret correctly to his > satisfaction (!) that expertise and authority are not the same. I don't recall Guido making this distinction. However, expertise is the foundation for 'authority'. All taxonomist are 'authorities', good, bad or indifferent. That was the sense in which I used the word. >You mention Phil Cribb who, in the world I inhabit, is extremely well >regarded. However, > he is human and in the book he co-authored - The Manual of Cultivated > Orchids - there are nomenclatural/taxonomic errors that I'd be embarrassed > to have slipping through an editor's scrutiny. I guess I don't understand your point. I only mentioned that Guido did not like Phil. I agree the book had many errors in it, but so do all the books I have. Some just more than others. I love what Bob Dressler says: "A taxonomist should only publish posthumously, because then he would not have to say he made a mistake". My kind of taxonomist! >Peer review, in taxonomic matters, is notoriously problematical since there >can be occasions when a > peer reviewer, specialized enough in an authors taxonomic area, may not be > available. In the small world of the taxonomy of some plant (or animal) > groups a single person may be the only real expert. I agree that sometimes it is difficult or even impossible to find qualified people to do the reviews. However, what is your suggestion? that we stop doing peer reviews because it is sometimes hard to find reviewers? Would you put more faith, in a general sense, in work published in a rigorously peer reviewed journal or in one that had no peer review of submitted papers. Often things published in non-peer reviewed journals could not pass muster and would never be published in journals that are reviewed. > That's why I, for one, am learning a lot from what looks like a sparring > match whether intended or not. I just fear the development of argument > turning to a row and that would be no use to anyone. I try never to insult, denigrate, hurt people's feelings or attack anyone on this forum (or anywhere for that matter). Guido may be sparing, however, I try very hard to just discuss an issue. icones _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
