Donald Lazere, professor emeritus of English at California Polytechnic State University Poly San Luis Obispo and lecturer at the University of Tennessee Knoxville has a bee in his bonnet about an article that Yale mathematician David Gelernter published in June 2007 in The Weekly Standard. Lazere spotted what looked to him to be two out-of-context quotations in Gelernter’s article. His efforts to bring this matter to light, however, have been frustrated until recently. Last week, the History News Network ran Lazere’s 1,100-word riposte to Gelernter, which includes his account of rebuff from the Weekly Standard and Minding the Campus to help him convey his point.
Professor Lazere wrote to NAS today asking that we “post a reference” to his History News Network statement and rather implying that we would be reluctant to do so. He wrote, “My guess is that Gelernter is a member of NAS, but in any case, it would be very interesting to see how your officials and members respond to it.”
Professor Gelernter is not a member and officials of the NAS are pleased to post a link to Professor Lazere’s History News Network essay.
For what it is worth, Professor Lazere seems to overestimate the significance of his observations, but we think our readers ought to judge for themselves.
