Robth wrote
Academic experts are uniquely qualified to judge the
relative notability of
subjects within their area of expertise. They are also, in general, probably
not the people we would want to have judging the overall notability of their
entire area of expertise. (I do not think I have ever known an academic
whose estimation of his or her own field's importance was not substantially
higher than the outside world's estimation of the same.)
Relevant quote from [[G. H. Hardy]], about a professor's duty to exaggerate his
subject's importance, and his importance within it. (Professor here is aimed at a
traditional 19thC model.)
Charles
-----------------------------------------
Email sent from
www.ntlworld.com
Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software
Visit
www.ntlworld.com/security for more information