Kristina Lerman, PhD
Information Sciences Institute
University of Southern California
Marina del Rey, California
24 August 2001
Marc Brodsky
(via e-mail)
CEO and
Executive Director
American
Institute of Physics
One Physics
Ellipse
College
Park, Maryland 20740
Dear Mr.
Brodsky —
I have read the
history of Dr. Schmidt's firing closely and with great interest, and frankly, I
am quite appalled. In my naivete, I
expected academic institutions (and quasi-academic ones, like the AIP) to be
champions of freedom of thought and expression — not suppressors of
speech. However, I am glad this
controversy brought Schmidt's book to my attention. I am ordering it on Amazon right now!
Sincerely,
Kristina Lerman
(a former
member of the American Physical Society and a former reader of Physics Today)