Sublime

In the 1930s, Max Kleiber, a Swiss agricultural biologist, observed that, across mammal species, from shrews to elephants, the energy required to maintain basic metabolic function is closely correlated with an organism’s body size.

• Illusion of truth and finality: Publication is treated as a stamp of approval. Mistakes are rarely corrected. Retractions are stigmatized.


• Artificial scarcity: Journals want to be first to publish, fueling secrecy and fear of being “scooped.” Also, author credit is distributed through

une « microcarte » qui montre, en infimes détails jusqu’à la cellule nerveuse individuelle, comment le cerveau du singe traite ce que ressent sa main.

For a decade, Mitchell made little headway with his colleagues. One recalled a conference at which the future Nobel Prize winner’s words “went into one of my ears39 and out the other, leaving me feeling annoyed they allowed such a ridiculous and incompetent speaker in.” One opponent grew so incensed when speaking to Mitchell that he hopped on one