“Original and inspiring” said Professor Birch
Commendations for the work of biologist and author Jeremy Griffith from world-renowned scientists Charles Birch, Paul Davies and John Morton were tendered in Court today as Mr Griffith and mountaineer Tim Macartney-Snape’s defamation action over a 1995 Four Corners program continued.
In a 2003 determination that preceded the current hearing, a Supreme Court jury found that Mr Griffith had been defamed by the imputation in the Four Corners program that, as a scientist, he “publishes work of such a poor standard that it has no support at all from the scientific community”.
The scientific commendations admitted into evidence today were among various letters and other materials the plaintiffs had exchanged with the three academics, ranging in date from prior to the publication of Mr Griffith’s second book Beyond The Human Condition (1991) to the launch of his third book, A Species In Denial (2003), more than a decade later.
In his commendation of Beyond, the Templeton Prize winning Emeritus Professor Charles Birch, who lectured Mr Griffith as a biology student at Sydney University in the 1960s, wrote:
“[Griffith] gives us a genuinely original and inspiring way of understanding ourselves and our place in the universe. His vision is one I embrace with enthusiasm and commend to all those who are searching for meaning.”
Other documents tendered in relation to Professor Birch outlined the history of his support for Mr Griffith’s work, including his Open Day address at the Foundation for Humanity’s Adulthood in 1993, a speech he gave at the Foundation’s website launch at the Australian Museum in 1998 and a copy of his foreword to Mr Griffith’s 2003 bestseller, A Species In Denial.
In addition to material relating to Professors Birch and Morton, the plaintiffs also tendered a commendation for Beyond from the physicist and 1995 Templeton Prize winner, Professor Paul Davies, sent in November 1991, which stated:
“What does it mean to be human? Jeremy Griffith’s challenging study of our internal conflicts – our “upset” – will surely spark fresh debate on the human condition. In this sweeping synthesis, the author draws from the physical sciences, from anthropology, from religion and philosophy, to build a new conception of human beings and our place in the universe. From his penetrating insight into the origins of the human condition Griffith shows how, through understanding it, we may move onto achieve true peace and harmony. Here is a frank, bold and, above all, hopeful message for mankind.”
After tendering Professor Davies’ commendation, counsel for the plaintiffs, Kieran Smark, said he was not seeking to lead the Court to the inference that the physicist’s position had remained unchanged and he foreshadowed further evidence would be admitted on that subject in the course of the hearing.
After the luncheon adjournment, counsel for the defendants, John Sheahan SC, called the ABC’s Deborah Masters, the producer of the defamatory Four Corners broadcast, to the witness box.
Ms Masters began her testimony by describing to the Court how she was approached in January 1995 by Four Corners’ then executive producer Ian Carroll to be involved in the making of the proposed program about the plaintiffs. She recounted how three days after Mr Carroll’s approach, she and the program’s guest reporter, Reverend David Millikan, met with Mr Griffith at his Sydney home.
Evidence from Ms Masters continues tomorrow before Justice David Kirby.
