In article <439e2h$852 at netnews.upenn.edu>,
David Peritt <Peritt_d at a1.mscf.upenn.edu> wrote:
>In article <438972$630 at data.interserv.net> , arodri03 at interserv.com>writes:
>>Finally, I think Jenner deserves recognition for his drive and
>perseverance in
>>standing up for
>>vaccination during years of attempts to discredit or deny the value of
>the procedure.
>>>and having the grant money, being in the proper class, having the proper
>education and being in a setting (institute/country) that affords one
>notoriety.
Horrible crimes, one and all. Let's not belittle the accomplishments of the
man simply because he was fortunate enough to have the right tools for the job.
How many of us involved in research today would rather be uneducated, poor, and
in a setting that does *not* support our research? The notoriety afforded to
Jenner put humanity on the way to eliminating one of the great scourges - I
find it difficult to feel bad about it.
>Makes you wonder what some poor slob without proper
>immunological training at a backwater institute in a developing nation is
>working on now.
This does not in any way reduce Jenner's works. There is nothing wrong with
celebrating people who overcome adversity, but do not denigrate those who don't
have those obstacles. Pasteur, Salk, Sabin, etc. all had expensive educations
and the "setting" you sneer at, but that is the nature of scientific research.
It is expensive, and much of the funding is from public money, so "notoriety"
of positive things is what keeps the money flowing.
BioKen
who is more concerned with Jenner's ethics than with his background
--
Ken Frauwirth (MiSTie #33025) _ _
frauwirt at mendel.berkeley.edu |_) * |/ (_ |\ |
http://mendel.berkeley.edu/~frauwirt/HomePage/ |_) | () |\ (_ | \|
DNRC Title: Chairman of Joint Commission on In-duh-vidual Affairs