I don’t know about you, but I’ve been following the debate about Larry Summers’ comments regarding the lack of women in the science and engineering fields with interest, mainly because it seems like every big brained person around has weighed in. The debate has encompassed gender differences, differences in how men and women are treated in the workplace, and academic freedom, and much of it has been fascinating. Of particular interest are the comments of Richard Posner, Brad DeLong, and William Saletan. My own opinion on whether there are biological differences in aptitude between men and women? I honestly have no idea, and I have no idea how you’d prove the case for either side.

One thing that comes out is that Summers did himself a great disservice by keeping the transcript under wraps for as long as he did. Rarely do people sound as bad in context as they do when they’re taken out of context. Summers should have published the transcript as soon as his comments became news.