Freeman Dyson (the doctorate is honorary - he didn't complete his graduate work) is one of the most respected scientists of our time and probably the most respected scientist still living. He "retired" long ago, but he remains active and still has an office at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he worked most of his life.
Early last year he was invited to speak at a Furman College colloquium on faith and reason. His talk, titled "The Environment: Is it Science or is it Religion?," is one of the best analyses of the current state of climate science I could possibly imagine. It is basically what I have been thinking for 30 years. Not the religion part - that's more recent. But as a geologist who is also familiar with computers and computer modeling, I have yet to see what I would consider scientific proof that recent increases in atmospheric CO2 have a significant affect on climate when compared to all the natural processes that affect climate.
Naturally he has been severely criticized for his position, especially by those in the religious flocks of Al Gore and James Hansen. Even his wife, who is not a scientist, was taken in by watching "An Inconvenient truth." But, as usual, his critics don't attack his reasoning, they attack him personally. "He is 86 and losing his marbles." What a ridiculous thing to say with no proof whatever, especially since he has held these views for decades. In truth, he is an environmentalist, politically liberal, and voted for Obama. Surely these same prople don't think those are the characteristics of a blithering idiot.
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