Way back in August, I received a postcard. It read as follows:
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For the latest detail on the mother of all cases of misconduct in science:Professor Michael DavisIllinois Institute of TechnologyChicago Illinois[phone number omitted for privacy]For a second opinion: [name omitted for privacy]Legal Advisor, State Department[phone number omitted for privacy]signed Herman Berg an American [something I couldn't make out]-------
Now this was interesting... so I turned to Google. "Herman Berg" didn't exactly yield many results... But it looked as if the postcard was related to a discovery made by Mr.Berg of a Charles Babbage letter from 1835. The letter was a major piece of orginal history. It laid out some of the fundamental elements of modern day computing.
Anyhow, I won't get into the details of the letter. The interesting bit is Herman Berg's struggle to get recognised for his discovery.
The contact Berg provided at the Illinois Institute of Technology was easy enough to contact. Google yielded an email address, and Prof.Davis replied immediately. He included a copy of a paper he wrote that was published in 2000. Davis had been contacted by Berg as was compelled enough by his story to write the paper providing official record of Berg's discovery and his subsequent struggle with the academic establishment as it refused to credit him for the find.
The article isn't available online, but I'll find a link to th journal and post it later.
Next... I suppose I should contact the individual at the Department of State and find out where he fits in.
