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A comment on If you're going to do good science, release the computer code too. Parent comment

Re:If you're going to do good science, release the computer ... by lolcraft on Monday February 08, 2010 @02:31PM (#1110452)
I'll add another argument for not releasing scientific code, specially of a matter so polarizing as climate change: programmers aren't scientists. We aren't familiar with neither the field's literature nor the science being used. For example, the famous comment from the CRU code said:

; Plots 24 yearly maps of calibrated (PCR-infilled or not) MXD reconstructions ; of growing season temperatures. Uses “corrected” MXD – but shouldn’t usually ; plot past 1960 because these will be artificially adjusted to look closer to ; the real temperatures.

Do you expect the average programmer to take a 2 year course in climate science to truly understand what MXD means instead of instantly running around screaming "wolf!"? If you did so, be disappointed (a careful reading of Google results for "CRU code" might be enlightening).

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Re:If you're going to do good science, release the computer ... by jgrahamc on Monday February 08, 2010 @03:14PM (#1110555)
That seems like a bogus reason. Some people who had already decided that climate change was fraud decided to read comments in the code and interpret them to fit their worldview.

Other people read the CRU code and made intelligent comments about the code.

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Re:If you're going to do good science, release the computer ... by matthewmarkus on Monday February 08, 2010 @11:58PM (#1111578)
Hear, hear! I did a whole series of posts analyzing a skeptic's claims:

http://matthewmarkus.posterous.com/raw-darwin-airport-temper... http://matthewmarkus.posterous.com/darwin-airport-temperatur... http://matthewmarkus.posterous.com/darwin-airport-temperatur...

I found at least one error/discrepancy in each side's output. Of course, neither side released any code. The disclosure of methods is a prerequisite for repeatable experiments, the cornerstone of science.

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