Robert Root-Bernstein
Encyclopedia
Robert Root-Bernstein (Ph.D.
, Princeton University
) is a professor of physiology
at Michigan State University
. In 1981, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as a "genius grant."
He has also researched and consulted on creativity
for more than fifteen years. Among other books, he has authored Discovering: Inventing and Solving Problems at the Frontiers of Scientific Knowledge, and Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus. In Rethinking AIDS, Root-Bernstein postulated that factors in addition to HIV
may contribute to AIDS
. Root-Bernstein was a former member of the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis, a group of AIDS denialists.
Root-Bernstein suggests that HIV, while involved in the development of AIDS, may be no more important than "co-factors": "Both the camp that says HIV is a pussycat and the people who claim AIDS is all HIV are wrong." He has distanced himself from AIDS denialists who argue that HIV is harmless, saying, "The denialists make claims that are clearly inconsistent with existing studies. When I check the existing studies, I don’t agree with the interpretation of the data, or, worse, I can’t find the studies [at all]."
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
) is a professor of physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
. In 1981, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as a "genius grant."
He has also researched and consulted on creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
for more than fifteen years. Among other books, he has authored Discovering: Inventing and Solving Problems at the Frontiers of Scientific Knowledge, and Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus. In Rethinking AIDS, Root-Bernstein postulated that factors in addition to HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
may contribute to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Root-Bernstein was a former member of the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis, a group of AIDS denialists.
Root-Bernstein suggests that HIV, while involved in the development of AIDS, may be no more important than "co-factors": "Both the camp that says HIV is a pussycat and the people who claim AIDS is all HIV are wrong." He has distanced himself from AIDS denialists who argue that HIV is harmless, saying, "The denialists make claims that are clearly inconsistent with existing studies. When I check the existing studies, I don’t agree with the interpretation of the data, or, worse, I can’t find the studies [at all]."
Books authored
- Discovering: Finding and Solving Problems at the Frontiers of Science, Harvard University Press, 1989.
- Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus, Free Press, 1993, ISBN 978-0-02-926905-3
- Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels, (with Michele Root-Bernstein), Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
- Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People, Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
External links
- Robert Root-Bernstein's faculty web site at Michigan State University
- Brief Biography
- Creativity Blog at Psychology Today