Professor Hal Lewis, a scientist of formidable distinction, has resigned from the American Physical Society in disgust at the way the Society’s leadership have (he says) been manipulating discussion on Climate issues.

His letter is here. Read it – powerful words indeed:

This scheming at APS HQ is so bizarre that there cannot be a simple explanation for it. Some have held that the physicists of today are not as smart as they used to be, but I don’t think that is an issue. I think it is the money, exactly what Eisenhower warned about a half-century ago…

… Since I am no philosopher, I’m not going to explore at just which point enlightened self-interest crosses the line into corruption, but a careful reading of the ClimateGate releases makes it clear that this is not an academic question.

I want no part of it, so please accept my resignation. APS no longer represents me, but I hope we are still friends.

So many institutions in our culture were developed from rock solid standards of public and private integrity. What happens if those standards and institutions are hijacked by people who see all that sort of thing as ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘off-message’?