The Scientific Activist
The Scientific Activist was a blog that covers science, politics, and science policy, run by Nick Anthis, a graduate student in biochemistry and Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford. The Scientific Activist gained international recognition in February 2006 when it published information that led to the immediate resignation of Bush Administration NASA appointee George Deutsch.[1][2] Deutsch—who had been accused of censoring scientific information at NASA—claimed to have graduated from Texas A&M University on his résumé, but Anthis discovered that Deutsch had not, in fact, completed his degree there.
The Scientific Activist was founded on January 11, 2006, and was originally hosted by Blogger.[3] It gained early attention for its coverage of Oxford's vocal animal rights movement,[4] and it continued its coverage as the pro-research Pro-Test movement was formed.[5] On June 9, 2006, The Scientific Activist moved to ScienceBlogs.[6]
In July 2006, The Scientific Activist was named one of Nature's "Top five science blogs."[7]
Notes and sources
- Nick Anthis, "Breaking News: George Deutsch Did Not Graduate from Texas A&M University", The Scientific Activist, February 6, 2006
- Andrew C. Revkin, "A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA", The New York Times, February 8, 2006
- Nick Anthis, "What is a Scientific Activist?", The Scientific Activist, January 11, 2006
- Ben Goldacre, "Animal Writes", BadScience, January 24, 2006
- Nick Anthis, "Oxford Scientist Bite Back at Animal Rights Activists", The Scientific Activist, February 26, 2006
- Nick Anthis, "It's Moving Day for The Scientific Activist" [post from original site], The Scientific Activist, June 9, 2006 (see also June 2006 archives (new site))
- "Top five science blogs", Nature, 442, p. 9, July 6, 2006
External links
- The Scientific Activist, current site
- The Scientific Activist, original site (archives January 11—June 21, 2006)