Month: February 2005

My brother is having problems with TypePad and can’t post comments (if anyone else experiencing this, please email me), so here are his thoughts:

My comments as a Professional Academic *hrumph hrumph* ??:

First, what happens to the New World aboriginal inhabitants is a tragedy, but alas, it is unavoidable. ??As I point out to my students, any time you have an isolated population, you run the risk that eventually a circumstance can arise that can devastate the population because isolation decreases the ability to adapt over time. ??In this case, an Old World pathogen (or pathogens – smallpox wasn’t the only disease that killed Native Americans, there were also documented cases of bubonic plague as well) was introduced and wreaked havoc. ??By 1700, the native population of the Western Hemisphere had decreased from as high as 110 million (estimate; not all authorities agree) to between 2 and 3 million. ??This is just not possible if the Europeans themselves are the only vector or vector-driving agents. ??Consider: there was almost no sustained European contact in New England before 1620, but a smallpox epidemic pretty much depopulated the area around Plymouth just before the Pilgrims arrived (a stroke of Providence, the Pilgrims would later argue). ??The fact is that once the vector is introduced, it’s only a matter of time before the entire population is at risk. ??We can blame Columbus, we can blame Leif Erickson, we can blame a lot of people, but it’s just like blaming Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow: the circumstances were there that allowed this to happen (no resistance, no knowledge of transmission factors). ??By the way, we gave them smallpox, they gave us syphilis 😛

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[I love the word brouhaha]

My take: despite the extreme idiocy of the man’s comments, he should not lose his job over them. However, he should face scrutiny for possible academic fraud, as pointed out by Thomas Brown of Lamar University:

Churchill argues that the US Army created a smallpox epidemic among the Mandan people in 1837 by distributing infected blankets. While there was a smallpox epidemic on the Plains in 1837, historians agree that it was accidental, and the Army wasn???t involved.

Also in need of review: the process that gives tenure to a person without reviewing his research first.

The Guardian posted these details from BS6008, the British Standards Institute (not Institution, as the story says) paper for making tea for sensory testing. Should also work for actual drinking.

  • Use 2g of tea – plus or minus 2% – for every 100ml of water
  • Tea flavour and appearance will be affected by the hardness of the water used
  • Fill the pot to within 4mm-6mm of the brim with freshly boiling water
  • After the lid has been placed on top, leave the pot to brew for precisely six minutes
  • Add milk at a ratio of 1.75ml of milk for every 100ml of tea
  • Lift the pot with the lid in place, then “pour tea through the infused leaves into the cup”.
  • Pour in tea on top of milk to prevent scalding the milk. If you pour your milk in last, the best results are with a liquor temperature of 65C-80C.

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