Harvard row over sex and science

The President of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, (is he like the Vice-Chancellor?) has got himself into hot water with his comments about women in science. Apparently, it may be possible that men and women have different abilities. Stone the crows, I'd have never thought of it myself.

This is a gem of a story. The arch-feminist causing the ruckus has shot herself completely in the foot. Apparently, had she stayed to listen to all of Dr Summers' speech, she might "have either blacked out or thrown up". Indeed, such was the extent of her revulsion that she "just couldn't breathe because this kind of bias makes me physically ill".

This is from a woman who wants to defend the role of women in maths and the sciences, subjects where cool, dispassionate inquiry and logical precision are the order of the day. And yet she's behaving like the stereotypical Dickensian flounce, completely incapable of thinking rationally and reacting calmly.

I doubt she'd have a problem with a speech describing women (generalising, obviously) as better at the caring professions or in situations requiring a firm grasp of people's emotional
state. Actually, it seems common sense that women are better at some things than men. Like childbirth, for instance. I gather most men find it impossible.

Prof Hopkins isn't making sense. And in fact, she's insulting young women's (and young men's) choices in academic career. She is insinuating that a vast number of the young ladies populating humanities courses are unthinking beings who went for a humanities course because it was the culturally-acceptable option. What rot.

If young women want to do social sciences and humanities, I see no reason to stop them. As a mathematician, all I'd want to say is "rather them than me"! Prof Hopkins, on the other hand, clearly believes that she knows better than the individual students, what they ought to be doing. I hope she doesn't have many supervisees at MIT.

Society has gone mad and no-one's even prescribing medication. An arch-feminist spouts emotive claptrap, the media listens as though this is all completely normal and no-one points out her arrogance in assuming that she already has all the answers.

Read the full story at the BBC website, here.

A Case of Conscience

Author: James Blish
Year of publication: 1958

Date started: 11/01/05
Date completed: 11/01/05

Plot synopsis
The book is written in two parts, the first being set on the alien planet of Lithia and the second set back on Earth. Lithia is a tropical planet with a saurian alien race living on it, and a four-man United Nations assessment mission is about to draw its work to a close.

Fr Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez, a Peruvian Jesuit and biologist by training, is one of the members of this panel whose job is to make the initial assessment. He has worked with the physicist of the team (Cleaver), while the geologist (Agronski) and chemist (Michelis) have been working together further north. The two teams are due to meet up within a day and make their recommendation for a course of action regarding Lithia. (Intriguingly, everyone refers to the three other scientists by their surnames, but normally address Fr Ramon as "Father" or "Ramon".)

Cleaver has found that the planet contains large quantities of natural resources which could be used for the manufacture of atomic weapons. His suggestion is to close the planet so that it can be used for this purpose. Michelis, having involved himself in Lithian culture, has decided that the human race could learn a lot from the Lithian way of life, and wants the planet to be opened immediately. Agronski's mind is never recorded as having been made up entirely, although from what follows, one assumes that Cleaver's acceptance of slavery for his planetary manufactory sways him against that plan.

Fr Ramon, however, has had the biggest struggle of the four of them. The Lithians, he has found, have a society in which there is absolute moral conduct without any concept of God. Indeed, his immersion in the culture has taught him that Lithians, although seeming to be perfectly rational beings, have in fact a major blind spot - their society is built up from social axioms (such as equality under the law) which are entirely arbitrary. Lithian society is so ordered that it seems to prove that there is absolutely no need for God in good social conduct, contrary to the teachings of all Christians and particularly the Roman Catholic Church. This causes him great concern.

In fact, it so concerns him that he comes to the conclusion that the Lithians must be creatures of the devil, and accordingly, votes to quarantine the planet. Permanently.

Although the actual vote isn't recorded in the book, the result is: it is tied (whence the deduction that Agronski eventually voted to open Lithia). The four-man team prepares to return, and Fr Ramon is given a gift by one of the Lithians he befriended during the stay. It is a hand-crafted jar, and inside is a young Lithian. Fr Ramon, horrified at the gift but unable to refuse, takes it with him onto the spaceship.

At the beginning of the second part, we find Fr Ramon and his young laboratory assistant caring for the young Lithian. Michelis visits often, but still cannot forgive Fr Ramon for his decision regarding Lithia. Cleaver, it appears, has begun work on his nefarious scheme to enslave Lithia, manufacture the weapons of thermonuclear war and make as much money as he can in the process. Agronski left Lithia, suffered reverse culture shock and is now a failing alcoholic.

As ever, one thing leads to another, and Michelis and the lab assistant (Liu) marry and take joint parental responsibility for Egtverchi, the young Lithian, who is made a citizen of the United Nations. Egtverchi, however, grows beyond his parents' control and makes a name for himself, broadcasting a weekly television show in which he routinely mocks adult human society with all its seemingly absurd rules of conduct.

He oversteps the mark, however, when he attends a high society party and goes wild, causing massive damage to the hostess' reputation and home. His defence of himself turns into a vitriolic attack on all human institutions, and calls for mass revolt against the UN.

Meanwhile, Fr Ramon is on his way from Rome, where he expected to stand trial for his heretical suggestion that the Lithians were the creation of the devil. Instead, he had found a Pope who, while unwilling to countenance his idea, saw in Fr Ramon a man who can be used to stop Egtverchi's antics, which are looking increasingly similar to those of the one called Antichrist in the Book of Revelation. He expected Fr Ramon to exorcise both Egtverchi and Lithia, and warned him to return successful.

No longer a Father in the Society of Jesus, Dr Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez arrives back to Michelis and Liu to find that Egtverchi's citizenship of the UN has been revoked, so that the UN can then arrest Dr and Dr Michelis on a charge of letting a wild animal loose. This is merely a technical measure, they are informed, so that the UN can then destroy Egtverchi, just as soon as they find out where he is hiding.

Dr Ruiz-Sanchez advises the Michelises to insist that, since they are arrested, they be put in jail overnight. He is convinced that Egtverchi's call for a riot will not go unheeded, and having put the Michelises in safekeeping, locks himself in their apartment and awaits the inevitable.

The inevitable arrives shortly, and the good Doctor is only saved from the mob by their destruction of a beehive containing an exotic species of bee, whose poison is so potent that it can kill a man. After the mob has mostly fled or been stung, he leaves the room to administer the Last Rites - as a layman, not as a priest.

As the night draws to a close, the mob disperses or moves on, and Dr Ruiz-Sanchez is able to meet up once more with the Michelises. They all head off to the island laboratory of a reclusive theoretical physicist (who had previously helped them to contact Lithia using a device derived directly from work he had done), where he now has a satellite broadcasting images from directly Lithia, which images arrive on Earth simultaneously.

Egtverchi, it appears, stowed himself on a spaceship bound for Lithia, addressed to his biological father, and at the same time, Cleaver's team has begun the first tests of their facility. Dr Ruiz-Sanchez finally plucks up the courage to do that which he hasn't dared do, and recites the exorcism he knew he should have done all along. The planet explodes in a flash of light, taking every single Lithian and the human teams on the planet with it. Divine retribution or freak accident due to the nuclear tests?

Comments
I found James Blish an excellent story-teller, and in this book for sure, he has a thought-provoking story to tell. Fr Ramon certainly struggles in the book with what he has and hasn't done, and the story of a man's struggle with faith and evidence is told masterfully. (It bears mentioning that James Blish was neither a Christian nor a Catholic, but as with all good story-tellers, could see into the mind of someone he wasn't.)

There are some events in the book which would be interesting to investigate further. For instance, Fr Ramon spends his spare time on Lithia reading a confessor-to-confessor account of a highly dysfunctional family, and it concludes with a question. In fact, Fr Ramon realises it concludes with two questions (which is critical to answering the problem), and the origin of the story is revealed as a famous literary piece. I would love to work out what relevance this has to the main plot; by linking Ramon's reading matter with the problem at hand later on in the book, Blish seems to be suggesting there is some relevance.

However, that's all the sort of literary criticism I generally can't do (and dislike, albeit in decreasing measure as I get older). My reviews tend to focus on "good story, strong characters?" and the answers to those questions are "yes" in both cases.

When I survey the wondrous cross

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o'er his body on the tree;
Then am I dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an off'ring far too small!
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my life, my soul, my all.

(Isaac Watts, 1674-1748)

My favourite hymn, and by a reasonable shot, too.

Watts takes us to the cross, and points to an execution. Not a nice execution, either -- a cross. One of the bloodiest and most tortured forms of death which twisted humans have ever devised. And who is the criminal whose infraction is so great that he deserves to die like this? The Prince of Glory, that's who.

He dies so that many may live; he is punished so that many may be set free. The sorrow at the waste of effort in trying to please God gives way to wonder at the love of that same God that he provides a way for us to be saved. But I cannot stand at the foot of the cross forever; the wonder breaks into full commitment to this loving God.

I think that, poetry aside, the chief reason I like When I survey is that in it, Watts brings us where we need to be brought as we need to be brought: to the cross; in sorrow, wonder and submission.

Jesu, Lover of My Soul

Jesu, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.
(Charles Wesley, 1707-1788)

As everyone else, I'm sure, I've watched the recent news from South-East Asia with shock and with sorrow. The death toll from the tsunami now stands at more than 150,000 souls and we are sure that there remain more folk to be found who perished. Amidst all of this, we wonder where God is. We find it difficult to reconcile a Christian gospel of a God who loves his creation so much that he sent his Son to die with the experience of a hundred and fifty thousand deaths from natural disaster, an "act of God". And we have questions, so many questions.

I had originally thought about posting When I Survey the Wondrous Cross this week, but I was browsing an old hymnal and I realised that Wesley's words are far more apt. The nearer waters rolled in Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and even as far as South Africa. They rolled and they swept away the lives of so many people that rescuers in some areas are giving up counting. What do we make of all this?

As Christians, we don't believe that God needs us to defend him. I don't claim to know why God permitted this to happen, I don't think any of us can claim to know the inner counsels of the Godhead. But I do know that God was made incarnate on the earth in Jesus Christ and lived a human life. He saw suffering, and he didn't deliver a treatise on God's justice. He helped. I know lots of Christians will tell us to look at Luke 13:1-5 and find part of the answer there, and as far as it goes, that's all well and good. But actually, that wasn't Jesus' normal response to suffering. His response was far more immediate and far more compassionate than a debate about the piety of the sufferer. As Wesley put it, he raised the fallen, he cheered the faint, he healed the sick, he led the blind.

Finally, he didn't simply raise the physically dead or lead the physically blind; he did that for us, if we are Christians. I was dead in my sin, before Christ's saving power was made real to me; I was blind in sin and unbelief, before the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and led me to the Saviour of the world.

We have seen the nearer waters roll over this past week. But God, in his grace, has raised up people who will help those in need. They are part of his "healing streams" to the troubled peoples of South-East Asia. Please donate money to one of the charities involved in the relief effort. WorldVision is an excellent Christian charity seeking to bring relief across the world, and particularly now to South East Asia. If you're not comfortable with giving to a Christian charity, please donate money to the Disasters Emergency Committee, or an equivalent organisation in your own country.

Above all, let us pray that God's healing streams of salvation through Jesus Christ would reach the people of South-East Asia, and that his saving grace would be made manifest among them. They need our aid, but desperate though they are, they need Christ more.