Ed has written a little about Dembski's claim that Barbara Forrest (of Creationism's Trojan Horse fame) owes her career to him. I am reminded of last year when Dembski accused Jeff Shallit and Wes Elsberry of "making a name for themselves by parasitizing my work." At that time, June 2005, I wrote the following:
Dembski has made a very strange statement regarding the mathematician Jeffrey Shallit. In a letter he claims that he doesn’t take Shallitt seriously as a critic as he sees Shallitt’s behavior as un-ethical and his criticisms as being trivial. I shall leave others to answer those charges. Dembski ends his letter:
The irony is that Shallit and Elsberry are making a name for themselves by parasitizing my work.
A couple of things spring to mind. Firstly, by this measure, Dembski and his fellow travellers “making a name for themselves by parasitizing” the work of evolutionary biologists, but I’ll leave that alone. Secondly - and perhaps more importantly - Shallitt is an accomplished mathematician, far more so than Dembski. He has two books published by academic presses (neither on Demsbski and his work). He has over 78 mathematical publications (number as of 2002), many in peer-reviewed mathematical and computer science journals. Unlike Dembski, he has mentored students. The claim that he is “making a name” from Dembski is preposterous!!!
Clearly, Dembski's God is a sick son-of-a-bitch that enjoys making Buffalo Bill look like an idiot as often as possible. Thank You Jesus!
Dembski's continual need to prove that the ID movement and himself in particular are the ones generating all of the "real research" (when they most clearly are not) is warping his brain into some alternate reality where he really is a great mathematician and anyone who might actually lay legitimate claim to that title does so because he led the way.
Real scientists know that they are building atop the work of others; and if their own work has any value, that others will build on their work. Everyone contributes to the whole enterprise. That is not something to be resentful about; that is the way real science works.
It is only fake scientists who speak of others "parasitizing" their work.