John Maddox Dies

Longtime editor of the journal Nature, John Maddox, has passed away at the age of 83. Aside from ushering in major changes to the journal's format, he famously was a member of the team that investigated a claim made by a French laboratory to have demonstrated efficacy of antibodies in aqueous 'high dilution', widely thought to be evidence in support of homeopathic medicine. Together with magician James Randi and expert in scientific misconduct Walter Stewart, he wrote a comprehensive contradiction (Nature 334: 287-290, 28 Jul 1988) of the original claims.

The journal itself has also put out a special feature in commemoration of him. Although his background was in physics, he made substantial contributions to science journalism in general. Let's hope those standards will be maintained as we enter the age of science blogging.