Written by Noah Carl.
In 1931, a large group of German scholars published a book titled A Hundred Authors Against Einstein, criticising the theory of relativity.1 This was an early example of academics getting together and leveraging sheer numbers to try to discredit a colleague’s work.2 Einstein, for his part, was unfazed. Commenting on the book, he’s reported to have said, “Were I wrong, one professor would have been quite enough.”
In recent decades, efforts of this kind have become more common. Yours truly was the subject of an academic petition back in 2018.3 But many others have also been targeted. The petitions — or “open letters” as they are sometimes termed — can be quite funny to read. So before getting to the point of this article, let’s go over three of my favourites.