SHAMEFUL though it may seem, scientists do sometimes bend the evidence to
suit their convictions. In his book A Rum Affair Karl Sabbagh tells the
bizarre story of an eminent botanist who was convinced that certain
plants—relics from before the last ice age—would be found in the
Hebrides. So sure was he that, instead of waiting to find them, he planted the
evidence himself on the island of Rum.
This was an extreme case. But others whom we revere because we believe they
were right may also have become technical offenders by rejecting evidence that
did not fit…
