"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...

[...]

You can't keep these things
secret.

Yes you can. I have spent a complete career doing research, and
publishing
in refereed journals at a time of my and my colleagues' choosing, when
our
research had reached an appropriate stage. Getting in touch with "the
media" came afterwards, if the matter was of sufficient public interest.
[...]

Well, all right: sometimes you can keep these things secret, and
sometimes you can't.

It is not so much a case of keeping the work secret as to refrain from
running to the pop press. We always discussed our work freely with
colleagues in the same field at all stages of progress. It was unthinkable
for a colleague to blab to the press before we were ready to publish.

I'd say that the more likely it was that the
public would be inteerested, the harder it would be to keep the lid
on. And, as I say, no possible harm could result from a misreading of
this story, except perhaps to the makers of Roundup, and they're
famous for their capacity to look after themselves.

Franz