Engineering Ethics

130 Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective

A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE

As Schon’s molecular electronics results were published, colleagues began

questioning his results. According to physicist Leo Kouwenhoven, who

worked at Bell Labs during this period, “People were always gossiping about

Hendrik” (Delta, 2002). Said Princeton physicist Lydia Sohn, “Collectively,

people at Bell [Labs] were nervous” (Service, 2002a).

Although Schon’s initial papers did not provide much experimental

detail, it was expected that more details would be provided with future

results. However, as Dutch physicist Teun Klapwijk later admitted, physicists

became irritated “that Schon’s flurry of papers continued without increased

detail, and with the same sloppiness and inconsistencies” (Cassuto, 2002).

Kouwenhoven’s colleagues formed an e-mail group, exchanging information

on inconsistencies in Schon’s work (Delta, 2002). Several anonymous Bell

Labs researchers were the first to discover the discrepancies in the Science

and Nature papers and relayed this information to Sohn in April (Service,

2002a). Sohn and Cornell physicist Paul McEuen then conducted an initial

analysis of all Schon’s papers, eventually discovering the data similarities in

six papers. Said Sohn, “The data were too clean. They were what you’d

expect theoretically, not experimentally. People were getting frustrated

because no one could reproduce the results, and it was hitting a crescendo”

(Cassuto, 2002).

On May 10, 2002, McEuen and Sohn contacted Schon, Batlogg, managers

at Bell Labs, and manuscript editors at Science and Nature, disclosing the

data similarities in three papers (similarities in the other three papers were

discovered a few days later).An independent committee was then appointed

by Bell Labs to investigate Schon’s work (Service, 2002a).

Lydia Sohn never disclosed the names of the anonymous Bell Labs

researchers who contacted her about discrepancies in Schon’s papers

(Service, 2002a).

REFERENCES

American Academy for Advancement of Science, Science’s Electronic Manuscript Submission

Website.Washingon, DC: AAAS, 2004. http://www.submit2science.org/ws/menu.asp.

AT&T, The History of AT&T. Basking Ridge, NJ: AT&T, 2004. http://www.att.com/history.

Berman, D., New calling: at Bell Labs, hard times take toll on pure science. WSJ,A1, May 23, 2003.

Cassuto, L., Big trouble in the world of “big physics.” Salon, Sept. 16, 2002. http://www.salon.com.

Chang, K., Panel says Bell Labs scientist faked discoveries in physics. NY Times, A1, C2,

September 26, 2002.

Crease, R., Bell Labs: shakeout follows breakup. Science, 1991, 252, 1480–1482.

Delta, “Finally, we’ve caught Hendrik.” Delta (online newsletter for Technical University of

Delft),August 29, 2002, 34, 4.

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