Modern Science

The Level and Nature of Autistic Intelligence (Dawson, Soulières, Gernsbacher, and Mottron, 2007) is a simple report—so simple it leaves one scratching one’s head as to why it would require four authors and a list of references nearly as lengthy as the report itself.

In 1905, a young patent office clerk submitted a straightforward essay—On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. Apparently oblivious as to how these things are done, he failed to enlist the services of recognized co-authors, and forgot to include a pile of citations from the leading scientific personalities of his time. I can only assume it was the most egregious of editorial board snafus that allowed that clerk's essay to see the light of day.