En stor forskerpersonlighet er borte - Bob Carter er død

[Telehiv]

Vi har ingen tradisjon for nekrologer her på klimadebatt.com, men det er mulig vi bør forberede oss på at det blir noen i årene framover: Mesteparten av dem som har våget å stå opp mot klimaindustrien er enten svært godt voksne eller har gått over i pensjonistenes rekker.

Majoriteten av de unge fremadstormende forskere har Ã¥penbart lest skriften pÃ¥ veggen og ikke vÃ¥get Ã¥ satse karrieren sin opp mot den overmektige institusjonsmakten som rir denne delen av forskningen. Desto mer skal vi respektere de gamle løver som setter sin integritet foran personlig profitt og meritokratisk gyldenglans. 

En av dem som har våget å insistere på ekte vitenskap lenge før han ble pensjonist - og har fått betale for det i rikt monn - var Bob Carter.
Vi snakker om en forskningens gentleman, med bl.a. en blytung Ph.D fra Cambridge. Dette var en mann som aldri løftet stemmen, og som tok alle usaklige angrep og utestengelser med samme saklig insisterende stil. Personlig har jeg vært en stor beundrer av Carter siden 1990-tallet.

Joanne Nova har lagt inn en virkelig tankevekkende nekrolog for Bob Carter, som jeg gjengir nedenfor i full lengde. Så pass må vi ære den gamle gentleman som en siste hilsen.

PS: Les nøye denne nekrologen; se hva Jo Nova skriver om hva hans siste arbeidsgiver - James Cook University - utsatte ham for av utestenging og ydmykelser, og tenk så over om der kan være en liten sannhet i de påstander som har blitt fremmet på bl.a. dette forumet om hva som skjer med dem som våger å legge seg ut med klimamakta....



Bob Carter â?? a great man, gone far too soon
One of the best things about being a skeptic are the people Iâ??ve got to know, and Bob Carter was one of the best of them, sadly taken far too soon. He was outstanding, a true gem, a good soul, and an implacably rational thinker. A softly spoken man of conscience and good humour.

So it is dreadful news that he suffered a heart attack last week in Townsville. For the last few days I have been hoping that he would return to us, but alas, tonight he passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.

We shall miss you Bob.

Professor Bob Carter (74) has been a key figure in the Global Warming debate, doing exactly what good professors ought to do â?? challenging paradigms, speaking internationally, writing books, newspaper articles, and being invited to give special briefings with Ministers in Parliament. He started work at James Cook University in 1981, served as Head of the Geology Department until 1998, and sometime after that he retired. Since then heâ??d been an honorary Adjunct Professor.

He was a man who followed the scientific path, no matter where it took him, and even if it cost him, career-wise, every last bell and whistle that the industry of science bestowed, right down to his very email address. After decades of excellent work,  he continued on as an emeritus professor, speaking out in a calm and good natured way against poor reasoning and bad science. But the high road is the hard road and the university management tired of dealing with the awkward questions and the flack that comes with speaking truths that upset the gravy train. First  James Cook University (JCU) took away his office, then they took his title. In protest at that, another professor hired Bob immediately for an hour a week so Bob could continue supervising students and keep his library access. But that was blocked as well, even the library pass and his email account were taken away, though they cost the University almost nothing.

It says a lot about the man that, despite the obstacles, he didnâ??t seem bitter and rarely complained. He dealt with it all with calm equanimity. Somehow he didnâ??t carry the treatment as excess baggage.

Probably the saddest aspect of the whole petty saga of the Blackballing of Bob Carter was that JCU felt it was fine to explain that Bobâ??s mistake was that he had come to an inconvenient conclusion on climate change. It wasnâ??t that he got the facts wrong, instead his â??views on climate change did not fit well within the Schoolâ??s own teaching and research activities.â?  So much for academic freedom. Apparently it took up too much time to defend Carter against outside complaints about his public writings and lectures on climate change.

Such is the state of intellectual rigor in Australian universities. As I said at the time:

â?¦ every person in the chain of command tacitly, or in at least one case, actively endorsed the blackballing. Each one failed to stand for free speech and rigorous debate.

The only one in that chain at JCU who would always put science before politics was Professor Robert Carter. He was a rare and remarkable man, and I will miss his wisdom and philosophical good nature.

This wonâ??t be the last thing I say about Bob Carter, but itâ??s a fitting way to finish the sad news today.

[Telehiv]

"How Bob Carter cost me a career - and made me a better person"

For dem som er interesserte i et større historisk bilde rundt Carter, har bl.a. Jo Nova vist til en interessant nekrolog fra Michael Smith, den australske radioverten som til slutt fikk sparken da han - til forskjell fra de andre australske mediene - nektet å slutte å granske uryddige saker. Helt til arbeidsgiveren sendte ham på dør for å ha drevet "unconvenient" spørsmålsstilling.

Linker:
Jo Novas kommentar: http://joannenova.com.au/2016/01/47469/
Smiths egen hjemmeside der hele artikkelen ligger: http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/01/how-bob-carter-cost-me-a-career-and-made-me-a-better-person.html#comment-6a0177444b0c2e970d01b8d1942e17970c

PS: Det begynner å bli en lang liste med sparkede folk nå rundt om i verden, som har tenkt formastelige klimatanker. Men men, "the science is settled", så det er nok til pass for dem.