Not 'Academic Windbags'

While T.V. Rajan made some interesting points in his article (The Scientist, April 29, 1996, page 10), I would like to strongly disagree with two of his contentions.

Firstly, he claims that science has become so diversified that most of us lack the expertise to objectively assess it and use quantity rather than quality. In today's climate, where two or more postdoctoral training experiences are common before one obtains a position, many of my colleagues are exposed to quite diverse training (in fact, most seek this), enabling us to obtain a working knowledge in several areas. I believe I am not alone in evaluating the quality of an investigator on the number of publications in the most respected journals, not the quantity in less rigorous publications. I hope this is the case; otherwise, I am burning away gastric mucosa trying to obtain a level of excellence to no...