1,600 scientists condemn Cern physicist's 'morally reprehensible' talk

More than 1,600 scientists have signed a statement denouncing the comments of a senior scientist at European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) who claimed physics was “invented and built by men”.

Italian professor Alessandro Strumia was suspended over a “highly offensive” presentation during a seminar on gender issues in physics in front of a predominantly female audience.

The scientist based at Pisa University claimed his analysis "proved" women were less capable at the subject than men. Men in the field were being discriminated against, he said.

The statement signed by the scientists and published on website particlesforjustice.org, argues that his talk was "fundamentally unsound". It adds that it was "followed by open discrimination and personal attacks”.

It says: "Strumia's arguments are morally reprehensible. Belittling the ability and legitimacy of scientists of colour and white women scientists using such flimsy pretexts is disgraceful, and it reveals a deep contempt for more than half of humanity that clearly comes from some source other than scientific logic.”

It adds: “It is clear to all of us that Strumia is not an expert on these topics and is misusing his physics credentials to put himself forward as one. Furthermore, those among us who are familiar with the relevant literature know that Strumia’s conclusions are in stark disagreement with those of experts”.

Asked about the statement, Prof Strumia told BBC News that high-energy physics community was about 100 times bigger than the number of people who had signed the statement.

He said the signatories "mostly come from those countries more affected by political correctness, which I indicated as the problem."

He added: "This is what leads to academicians that want (to get) others fired for having 'morally reprehensible' ideas”.

Professor Strumia also denied that his use of data in his presentation was biased.

"The data about citations and hirings show that women are not discriminated (against) in fundamental physics," he said. "We reward merit, irrespective of gender."

Officials at Cern announced he had been suspended with “immediate effect”, pending an investigation for his “unacceptable” presentation.

They said they had no prior knowledge of what his presentation on “High Energy Theory and Gender” contained and therefore they were were unaware that he was going to tell the audience that female scientists in Italy tended to reap the benefits of “free or cheaper university” education and that Oxford University extends exam times “for women's benefit”.

Signatories to the statement agreed that they wanted to “state, in the strongest possible terms, that the humanity of any person, regardless of ascribed identities such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, disability, gender presentation, or sexual identity is not up for debate”.

It added: “The thin veneer of scientific rigour with which Strumia’s talk began was followed by open discrimination and personal attacks, which we condemn unconditionally. We write to strongly express our view that the science case presented by Strumia was fundamentally unsound.”

Cern is currently headed by a woman called Fabiola Gianotti who is an Italian particle physicist.