"Kim Stanley Robinson - Forty Signs of Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

тАЬMight cause a revolution.тАЭ

тАЬNow back to reality,тАЭ Frank suggested. тАЬLast jacket here.тАЭ

When they had all tapped in their grading of the forty-fourth jacket, Frank quickly crunched the numbers
on his general spreadsheet, sorting the applicants into a hierarchy from one to forty-four, with a lot of ties.

He printed out the results, including the funding each proposal was asking for, then called the group back
to order. They started moving the unsorted Post-its up into one or another of the three columns.

PierzinskiтАЩs proposal had ended up ranked fourteenth out of the forty-four. It wouldnтАЩt have been that
high if it werenтАЩt for Francesca. Now she urged them to fund it; but because it was in fourteenth place,
the group decided it should be put in тАЬFund If Possible,тАЭ with a bullet.

Frank moved its Post-it on the whiteboard up into the тАЬFund If PossibleтАЭ column, keeping his face
perfectly blank. There were eight in тАЬFund If Possible,тАЭ six in тАЬFund,тАЭ twelve in тАЬDo Not Fund.тАЭ Eighteen
to go, therefore, but the arithmetic of the situation would doom most of these to the тАЬDo Not FundтАЭ
column, with a few stuck into the тАЬFund If PossibleтАЭ as faint hopes.

Later it would be FrankтАЩs job to fill out a Form Seven for every proposal, summarizing the key aspects
of the discussion, acknowledging outlier reviews that were more than one full place off the average, and
explaining any тАЬExcellentsтАЭ awarded to nonfunded reviews; this was part of keeping the process
transparent to the applicants, and making sure that nothing untoward happened. The panel was advisory
only, NSF had the right to overule it, but in the great majority of cases the panelтАЩs judgments would
standтАФthat was the whole pointтАФthat was scientific objectivity, at least in this part of the process.

In a way it was funny. Solicit seven intensely subjective and sometimes contradictory opinions; quantify
them; average them; and that was objectivity. A numerical grading that you could point to on a graph.
Ridiculous, of course. But it was the best they could do. Indeed, what other choice did they have? No
algorithm could make these kinds of decisions. The only computer powerful enough to do it was one
made up of a networked array of human brainsтАФthat is to say, a panel. Beyond that they could not
reach.

So they discussed the proposals one last time, their scientific potential and also their educational and
benefit-to-society aspects, the тАЬbroader impactsтАЭ rubric, usually spelled out rather vaguely in the
proposals, and unpopular with research purists. But as Frank put it now, тАЬNSF isnтАЩt here just todo
science but also topromote science, and that means all these other criteria. What it will add to society.тАЭ
What Anna will do with it, he almost said.

And speak of the devil, Anna came in to thank the panelists for their efforts, slightly flushed and formal in
her remarks. When she left, Frank said, тАЬThanks from me too. ItтАЩs been exhausting as usual, but good
work was done. I hope to see all of you here again at some point, but I wonтАЩt bother you too soon
either. I know some of you have planes to catch, so letтАЩs quit now, and if any of you have anything else
you want to add, tell me individually. Okay, weтАЩre done.тАЭ

Frank printed out a final copy of the spreadsheet. The money numbers suggested they would end up
funding about ten of the forty-four proposals. There were seven in the тАЬFundтАЭ column already, and six of
those in the тАЬFund If PossibleтАЭ column had been ranked slightly higher than Yann PierzinskiтАЩs proposal. If
Frank, as NSFтАЩs representative, did not exercise any of his discretionary power to find a way to fund it,