Journalist around the world are comparing those lazy professors to real scientists persecuted in the past. Galileo is the most named. I just remind that Galileo used his intelligence to make *correct* predictions that went against the established "Truth" , that eventually led him to be sentenced for life. The ones we are talking about here *denied* that there was an increased chance of a strong earthquake even if earth tremors in the area were intensifying their frequency. It seems they did a very poor job in investigating further and also pointing the inadequate level of safety of building especially public ones. It is probable that there have been pressures to play down actual risk by the government of that time. The full document that explains the sentence has not been released to the public, but it looks that this particular vicissitude is the exact opposite of the one of Galileo.
mic 2012/10/29 Harry Veeder <[email protected]> > Did you read it? > In the process of asserting themselves as the legitimate authorities > on local seismological conditions, the seismologists appeared to > *minimize* the risk of a major earthquake. One seismologist in an > attempt to quell public alarm said the recent cluster of tremors > *reduced* the risk of a major earthquake which he knew was unfounded > claim. > > I suspect the government seimsologist were either misinformed about > their duties or those duties were not clearly formulated by the > government . Unfortunately these scientists are the guinea-pigs for > better policy so the sentence should be light. Perhaps the italian > equivalent of the minister of the environment should take some of the > blame and resign. > > Harry > > On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 11:08 AM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> > wrote: > > This whole story is an outrage. It is simply dreadful. Are they trying to > > outlaw science and academic freedom, or are they trying to outlaw > mistakes? > > > > - Jed > > > >
