Brad uses baseball's "Value Above Replacement" concept. VAR works for baseball players (or maybe politicians), but not scholars. Scholars--especially great scholars--are measured by their home runs, not their strikeouts. Nobody holds Einstein's errors on quantum mechanics ("God does not play di…
Brad uses baseball's "Value Above Replacement" concept. VAR works for baseball players (or maybe politicians), but not scholars. Scholars--especially great scholars--are measured by their home runs, not their strikeouts. Nobody holds Einstein's errors on quantum mechanics ("God does not play dice") against him. EO Wilson and William Shockley were still great scientists, despite their embarrassing penchant for racist pseudoscience.
Did James Q. Wilson hit home runs? You betcha! His book on bureaucracy alone was enough to make anybody's reputation. Did his theories on crime cause more damage than good? Quite likely, but net social impact is not how we measure scholars.
I liked "Varieties of Police Behavior." But I'd call it "very good", rather than "great." And I'm neither a criminologist nor a sociologist, so I don't trust my judgment in this sphere.
I'll put in a good word for James Q. Wilson.
Brad uses baseball's "Value Above Replacement" concept. VAR works for baseball players (or maybe politicians), but not scholars. Scholars--especially great scholars--are measured by their home runs, not their strikeouts. Nobody holds Einstein's errors on quantum mechanics ("God does not play dice") against him. EO Wilson and William Shockley were still great scientists, despite their embarrassing penchant for racist pseudoscience.
Did James Q. Wilson hit home runs? You betcha! His book on bureaucracy alone was enough to make anybody's reputation. Did his theories on crime cause more damage than good? Quite likely, but net social impact is not how we measure scholars.
I give you "Bureaucracy". Anything else? Brad
I liked "Varieties of Police Behavior." But I'd call it "very good", rather than "great." And I'm neither a criminologist nor a sociologist, so I don't trust my judgment in this sphere.
Neither am I! Brad