[meteorite-list] Fwd: "Black-Market Trinkets From Space" April 5, 2011

[Darryl Pitt]

The "Letter to the Editor" referred to was, of course, edited.  It was also written prior to the receipt of emails from Drs. Agee and Harvey in which they disavowed the use of their quotes.  The New York Times is my local paper and the publication of this article has been terribly embarrassing. 

This was the the letter I hoped they would publish....


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Darryl Pitt <darryl at dof3.com>
> Date: April 5, 2011 11:39:18 AM EDT
> To: letters at nytimes.com
> Cc: scitimes at nytimes.com
> Subject: "Black-Market Trinkets From Space" April 5, 2011
> 
> 
> To The Editor:
> 
> Your article “Black-Market Trinkets From Space” offers a highly misleading portrait of private meteorite hunters, characterizing them as “looters” whose endeavors have had a negative impact on scientific research. On the contrary, private collectors are not the bane of science, but are most often important contributors to new research. Consider that as a result of the harvesting done by Bedouins, Berbers and others, 32 distinct specimens of Mars and 43 distinct specimens of the Moon, as well as other exotic samples, have been discovered in the hot deserts since the mid-1990s---all of which have undergone study. Conversely, not one such specimen was recovered by scientists in these regions before this time, and since then scientists have recovered only four such specimens. In fact, it has been argued there is no other scientific discipline where researchers have been aided as much by the private sector than in the study of meteorites. 
> 
> Darryl Pitt
> New York City
>