- Henry H. Bauer
Henry H. Bauer (born Austria, 1931 [http://henryhbauer.homestead.com/ Henry H. Bauer's personal website] ] ) is an emeritus professor of chemistry and science studies, and emeritus dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ("Virginia Tech").cite web | url = http://www.vcom.vt.edu/resource/biomed.html | title = Biomedical Seminars: "Truth Stranger Than Fiction: HIV is Not The Cause of AIDS" | publisher =Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine | date = 2007-09-12 | accessdate = 2008-06-03] Bauer earned hisPh.D. in 1956 from theUniversity of Sydney . He became editor-in-chief of the "Journal of Scientific Exploration ", a publication devoted tofringe science , after his retirement in 1999. Bauer has notably questioned the current scientific thinking on AIDS and the value ofaffirmative action .Life and work
Henry Bauer was born in Austria. As the Nazis came to power in German-speaking Europe, Bauer and his family emigrated to Australia.
Bauer earned his PhD from the
University of Sydney inAustralia and was awarded the degree in 1956. He conducted post-doctoral research at theUniversity of Michigan in the USA, returning to a teaching position in Sydney in 1958. Beginning in 1965, Bauer spent another year as a "visiting lecturer and researcher" in Michigan. In 1966, he moved to a faculty position at theUniversity of Kentucky . Interspersed in his time at Kentucky, Bauer also taught at theUniversity of Southampton . In 1978, Bauer became dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Virginia Tech, a position he held until 1986. Bauer was a professor of Science Studies and Chemistry until his retirement in 1999.Bauer also taught in Japan with a program of the
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science : in the summer of 1956 at theUniversity of Kyoto and in 1974 atSophia University and Rikagaku Kenkyusho.Although trained as a chemist, Bauer's interests shifted in the late 1960s from electrochemistry to "science studies," an interdisciplinary mix of history, philosophy, and sociology of science; his special interest is in scientific unorthodoxies, like the Loch Ness Monster, Immanuel Velikovsky, and other topics.
After retiring from Virginia Tech, Bauer became the editor of the fringe science publication Journal of Scientific Exploration. He became an AIDS denialist, writing a book and maintaining a website arguing that HIV does not exist and does not cause AIDS.
Academic Interests
From Chemistry to Science Studies
Bauer was trained as an electrochemist and reported his research in numerous publications during the 1950s and 60s. From the 1970s, although he remained a professor of chemistry in title, Bauer researched fringe science and pseudoscience topics. At Virginia Tech, Bauer was a founding member of a program for science studies, an interdisciplinary mix of history, philosophy, and sociology of science. Bauer's book on science studies, "Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method", has been listed on the bibliography for several university courses.Fact|date=June 2008
During his investigations of what constitutes pseudoscience, Bauer came to believe in the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs [ [http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/178489 The Roanoke Times] (report that Bauer addressed a Virginia conference of the
Mutual UFO Network ): "UFO buffs sighted at lake awhile, then vanish: One in seven people claims to have seen one, but the meeting didn't draw much interest", Jay Conley, Roanoke Times, 28 September 2008. Accessed 28 September 2008.] and other "scientific unorthodoxies". He compares the lack of acceptance of pseudoscientific beliefs by the scientific community to the persecution his family suffered at the hands of the Nazis, stating, "I guess I am kind of naturally contrary....I think you can make a pretty good case that it's not worth just accepting whatever is the standard."cite news
last = Angleberger
first = Tom
title = Days spent on banks of Loch Ness not a waste; Keeping watch for Nessie who ain't necessarily so
publisher = The Roanoke Times
date = 30 October 2000]Loch Ness Monster
Bauer developed an interest in the
Loch Ness Monster and based his belief in the Monster's existence on a film made by prominent “Nessie” enthusiastTim Dinsdale . The film purportedly shows an object, commonly thought to be a boat, moving in the Scottish lake.In the 1980s, Bauer researched and wrote a book on the Loch Ness Monster and the popular fascination with it. "The Enigma of Loch Ness" was reviewed favorably in The University of Chicago's Isis journal.cite journal | url = http://www.jstor.org/pss/234471 | title = Reviewed work(s): The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery by Henry H. Bauer | author = Ron Westrum | journal = Isis | volume = 79 | issue = 1 | date = March 1988 | pages = 145-146 | publisher =
The University of Chicago Press on behalf ofThe History of Science Society | accessdate = 2008-06-03 ] Bauer maintains a website arguing that there is strong evidence for theLoch Ness Monster , which he says the media have conspired to trivialize by sensationalizing the story. [cite web | url = http://henryhbauer.homestead.com/lochnessfacts.html | title = Genuine facts about "Nessie", the Loch Ness "monster" | date = 2007-09-07 | accessdate = 2008-06-03 ] During his tenure as professor at Virginia Tech, Bauer took over twenty trips to Loch Ness, searching for the Monster.In a news interview, Bauer commented on his belief in the Loch Ness Monster and how it has influenced his career: "I've been quite open about it....if I had been a biologist instead of a chemist, I couldn't have gotten away with it. People could smile and say, 'Well, he's got his hobbyhorse.'"
Immanuel Velikovsky
In his book, "Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy", Henry Bauer criticizes the research of
Immanuel Velikovsky , author of the pseudoscientific and pseudohistoric "New York Times " bestseller "Worlds in Collision " (1950). "Time" refers to Bauer's book as "the definitive treatise debunking Immanuel Velikovsky."cite web | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1064461-2,00.html | title = Science on the Fringe | publisher =Time magazine | author = Michael D. Lemonick/Gainesville | date = 2005-05-24 | accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] Bauer's work on Velikovsky is also cited in a "Science" article on Velikovskycite journal | url = http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/citation/228/4705/1304-a | journal =Science (journal) | title = Lessons of a Controversy: Beyond Velikovsky. | author = John W. Patterson | publisher =American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | volume = 228 | issue = 4705 | pages = 1304-1305 | date = 1985-06-14 | accessdate = 2008-06-03 | doi = 10.1126/science.228.4705.1304-a ] and byC. Leroy Ellenberger , editor of "Kronos", a publication founded to explore Velikovsky's work. cite web | url = http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/vlesson.html | title = A lesson from Velikovsky | publisher =Skeptical Inquirer , reprinted fromKronos (journal) | author = Leroy Ellenberger | date = Summer 1986 | volume = 10 | issue = 4 | pages = 380-381 | accessdate = 2008-06-03 ] Bauer's book is praised as "(a) very valuable contribution to the literature on a major controversy" by NASA Institute directorRobert Jastrow ,Fact|date=June 2008 andMarcello Truzzi says that "Bauer's remarkable book will be viewed, even by Velikovskians, as a great improvement over previous critical studies."Fact|date=June 2008Controversy
Opposition to affirmative action and diversity programs
Bauer says he left the Dean’s office at Virginia Tech "when political correctness arrived" in the 1980s. Bauer joined the anti-affirmative action conservative group called the
National Association of Scholars , starting a newsletter for the group's Virginia branch.Ian Zack,Associated Press , "Rush Limbaugh has nothing on him Professor's opinions - and he has many - have put him at odds with his bosses at Tech,"The Roanoke Times , 16 August 1998.] cite web | url = http://fbox.vt.edu/faculty/aaup/index4.html | title = Back copies of the Virginia Scholar | publisher =American Association of University Professors (AAUP) | accessdate = 2008-06-05 ] In "The Virginia Scholar," Bauer blames what he views as a decline in academic standards on the implementation of diversity programs, which he characterizes as promoting "feminoid sexists calling men sexist" and "racist black fanatics calling others racist."Bauer opposed the formation of a police "Sensitive Crime Unit" meant to deal with sexual assault and hate crimes at Virginia Tech, suggesting that these issues were not a serious problem on campus and did not merit special attention. Bauer called the police unit a threat to free speech. [cite news | author = Ian Zack | publisher =
Washington Times , sourceAssociated Press | title = Virginia Tech police start unit for ‘sensitive’ crimes | date = 1995-09-08 ] He criticized Virginia Tech’s creation of a new administrative position for multicultural affairs in response to racial incidents at the university in the mid-1990s as a wasteful allocation of resources. Bauer found fault with Virginia Tech’s policy of excusing student absences for attending religious or ethnic observances. As black enrollment at Virginia Tech declined during the 1990s, Bauer stated that the University was already doing too much ("pulling out all the stops") to attract minority students [cite news | author = Ian Zack | publisher =The Roanoke Times , sourceAssociated Press | title = Study shows Va. Tech as ivory tower more than ever: Despite recruiting, fewer blacks enroll | date = 1999-04-08 ] and should instead concentrate on raising academic standards.Views on homosexuality
Bauer also drew criticism for his denunciation of the
gay lifestyle. [http:www.aidstruth.org/GL-times-article.pdf AIDSTruth member criticizes AIDS denialists] Accessed 16 June 2008.] In his pseudonymously-written memoir, "To Rise Above Principle: The Memoirs of an Unreconstructed Dean", Bauer writes, "I regard homosexuality as an aberration or illness, not as an ‘equally valid life-style’ or whatever the current euphemism is." In his book, Bauer attributes the perceived problem of homosexuality to genetic, hereditary, and environmental factors, and suggests that the free speech and other civil rights of homosexuals should be withdrawn to prevent what Bauer views as the negative effects of homosexuality from spreading.cite book
last = (Pseudonym) Martin
first = Josef
title = To Rise Above Principle: The Memoirs of an Unreconstructed Dean
publisher = University of Illinois Press
date = 1988
isbn = ISBN 0-252-01507-X ] Bauer has since claimed to have retracted this view, stating on his website that he had been "wrong" about the issue and had, in particular, mistakenly relied on the "naturalistic" fallacy that reduced culture and ethics to biology. [http://henryhbauer.homestead.com/Iwaswrong.html] Accessed 10 September 2008.] According to AIDSTruth.org, an AIDS information resource, however, Bauer posted the statement one day after an account of his views appeared on the AIDSTruth.org site.AIDS denialism
Bauer became a proponent of
AIDS denialism several years after retiring from Virginia Tech. [cite web | url = http://failingsofhivaidstheory.homestead.com/ | title = The whole world "knows" that HIV causes AIDS. But is that compatible with the facts? NO! | author = Henry Bauer | accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] and asserts in theJournal of American Physicians and Surgeons (journal of the conservativeAssociation of American Physicians and Surgeons ) that it is not morally reprehensible to doubt theHIV -AIDS link. He says that there are "substantive grounds for doubting that HIV is the necessary and sufficient cause of AIDS and that antiretroviral treatment is unambiguously beneficial." [See "Questioning HIV/AIDS: Morally Reprehensible or Scientifically Warranted?" on the list of papers] .
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