The National Academy of Sciences represents the Scientific Establshment in the United States. It is the United States equivalent to the United Kingdom's Royal Society.
Jerry Pournelle is a science fiction writer who is open about his politically conservative bias.
If you needed open heart surgery, who would you pick to operate on you? Jerry Pournelle or a surgeon?
If you needed advice about the state of science, who would you ask? Jerry Pournelle or a panel of experts drawn from the membership of the National Academy of Sciences?
I would have to question the intellectual honesty of anyone who would answer "a surgeon" to the first question and "Jerry Pournelle" to the second ...
