Explanation of Benveniste

Abstract

Simulation of the filling of a conventional8 x 12 well microtitre plate. The wells are filled sequentially from left to right. Upon the addition of a unit volume of anti-IgE antiserum (having a concentration which is halved at each step), O.{J()J volume units are spread equally to neighbouring wells as described in the text. Abscissa:-1 n(z-"), where n is the dilution step number. Ordinate: ratio of actual versus expected (i.e. in absence of contamination) concentration of anti-IgE.

Who’s a Quack?

“…Somewhat in this revolutionary spirit, there were objections to any "a priori refusal to believe that such a phenomenon [as reported by Benveniste] is possible" (Fisher 1988). Another correspondent argued that "Casting doubt on findings merely because they are inconvenient to established assumptions and patterns of speculation strikes me as a poor way of advancing scientific knowledge" (Opitz 1988). The implication from these responses is that science should not be bound by history -not even by its own history: the historical binding of science is not scientific.…”