"Working lunch" talk about women in science, Jan 2005

Gore, Ferraro, Bill, and Hillary have all been damaged by having their remarks taken out of context, misrepresented, and/or misquoted. Then they tend to make things worse by apologizing at length for being misquoted or misunderstood, which enemies then take as admission of whatever terrible sin they were accused of.

In January 2005, Summers was requested to give a talk at a "working lunch" for a group of economists//. He was given some research results and asked to summarize them, in a //provocative// way so as to stimulate argument and look for solutions for a lack of women in science and math in //waht area//.

He did, in a convoluted scholarly style with many disclaimres, unfortunately widely separated from what was being disclaimed. (He may have occasionally mis-spoken "under threat of sniper fire" as "under sniper fire", or seen fallen heroes in the audience.)

At the luncheon, Summers did not give out a written version of his talk.  Inaccurate stories were spread about it, especially by // who walked out in the middle. Stories were published in newspapers and public statements were issued (some by people who had not heard the talk), all before Summers finally provided a transcript.

Here are some of the disclaimers that his critics leave out:

///

Here are 

....the full text of a transcript

....two apologies, taken as confessions

....newspaper versions.

/A comment and reply re more women in sciences in Asia/