Friday, August 2, 2013

A letter to Nature

Here is a letter I have just sent to Nature.

You have done a disservice to your readers with Professor Juma's review of Brian Arthur's book in Nature 499, 150–153 (11 July 2013). The Nature of Technology is risible twaddle, and should not have been promoted in Nature.

The review states: "This is an antidote to pessimism that belongs with the works of Joseph Schumpeter, Thomas Kuhn and Ilya Prigogine. It has universal appeal as a source of insight into how creativity can solve our most pressing economic, social and environmental challenges."

A more thoroughly misleading book review can hardly be imagined.  In fact, the book discusses none of the world's economic, social and environmental challenges, and has nothing of value to say on *any* topic. Placing this author on a par with Thomas Kuhn is a very bad joke.

You owe it to your readers to do at least minimal checking of the appropriateness of the books you review, and the basic honesty of the your reviewers.