Caesar's Wife

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Improving the way scientists use computers isn't just about making them more productive: it's also essential to defending the integrity of their work. Stories like this one about a researcher struggling in vain for three years to replicate someone else's results can only undermine public confidence at a time when we need to make a lot of hard decisions in a hurry. Sadly, we have no one to blame but ourselves...

Later: see also Victoria Stodden's post.