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Brian Martin (born 1947) is a social scientist at the University of Wollongong Faculty of Arts School of Humanities and Social Inquiry at the University of Wollongong in Australia. He became a professor there in 2007. His interest is in the research of the suppression of dissent. He was president of Whistleblowers Australia from 1996 to 1999 and remains their International Director.

Martin's work is more often published by activist publishers and online journals rather than traditional peer reviewed literature avenues. He has written on a number of controversial topics including fluoridation, pesticides, the origins of AIDS, euthanasia, and vaccination, often advocating the non-mainstream view. According to the BBC Martin has studied whistleblowing in science.

Professor Martin has spoken at a British Science Association Festival of Science, spoken on ABC Radio Australia and testified at the Australian Federal Senate's Inquiry into Academic Freedom.

Endorsing dissent - Fringe Theory & Anti-Vax

A PhD student under Martin's supervision at the time had links to the disgraced former doctor Andrew Wakefield, who lost his medical license due to research fraud and ethical violations, and Martin, a former paid member of the anti-vaccination pressure group Australian Vaccination Network (AVSN), has defended Wakefield publicly. He has also been criticised for his role in the Judith Wilyman PhD controversy where medical academics and the AMA raised concerns about whether Professor Martin had the necessary knowledge to assess the topic.

In June 2013 Martin gave evidential support to AVN (AVSN) in their unsuccessful court case, AVN vs NSW Fair Trading. It is said that Martin does not have a strong opinion on whether people should or should not be vaccinated.

In a 2010 paper of his, Martin disregarded previous scholarly peer reviews of a vaccine theory and in it claimed that medical researchers had colluded to silence the theory that the AIDS virus was caused by contaminated polio vaccines in 1950s Africa. Prior to this a number of articles promoting the same theory had been written, which were emphatically refuted in numerous well-regarded scientific publications including Science and Nature. Martin conceded the peer-review verdict on the theory was “almost entirely negative”.

Scientist critics of Martin claim that he is an example of postmodernism at its worst in that he seems not to be able to distinguish between dissent based on facts, science and logic as opposed to dissent based on pseudoscience and misinformation. Martin supervised a PhD thesis that alleged the Rockefeller Foundation had declared a war on consciousness through the imposition of musical tuning standards. In support of the thesis Martin was dismissive, saying criticism of it was not a genuine concern about quality and probity, but instead part of a campaign to denigrate the viewpoints of others.

Publications

In 2014 and 2015, Brian Martin published several books through Irene Publishing in Sweden. These included Non-violence Unbound, Backfire Manual, Whistleblowing: A Practical Guide, and The Controversy Manual. Information from the National Library of Australia show Martin has also published with Praeger, State University of New York Press, Rowman & Littlefield, War Resisters' International, Angus and Robertson, SUNY Press, and the Freedom Press.

Martin's original academic field was stratospheric modelling and numerical methods.

References

1. Martin's curriculum vitae, University of Wollongong (downloaded 27. November 2011)
2. ^ Devine, Miranda (4 December 2008). "Monoculture is killing thought". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
3. ^ Barclay, Paul (10 May 2004). "Perspective: Whistleblowers and Iraq". ABC Radio. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
4. Google Scholar Citations - Brian Martin.
5. Online books by Brian Martin
6. ^ Murcott, Toby (11 September 2000). "Science needs its whistleblowers". BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
7. Colvin, Mark (17 April 2014). "PM: Investigations mounting into research at University of New South Wales". ABC Radio. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
8. APH (9 October 2008). "Inquiry into Academic Freedom". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
9. Morton, Rick (28 January 2014). "University paid for anti-vaccine student to attend conference". The Australian. Retrieved 22 January 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
10. ^ Gorski, David (14 January 2016). "Brian Martin and Judy Wilyman: Promoting antivaccine pseudoscience as "dissent"". Science Blogs. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
11. ^ Loussikian, Kylar (16 January 2016). "Anti-vaccination activists spruik PhD thesis as proof of conspiracy". The Australian. Retrieved 17 January 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
12. Dunlop, Rachael (16 June 2013). "AVN vs OFT : The Lulzfest". Sceptics' Book. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
13. Dorey, Meryl (8 December 2010), AVN (AVSN) E-Newsletter
14. Loussikian, Kylar (13 January 2016). "Wollongong University accepts thesis on vaccine 'conspiracy'". The Australian. Retrieved 14 January 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
15. National Library of Australia -- Brian Martin

External links

• Home page
• Brian Martin, University of Wollongong

• Australian academics
• Living people
• Australian activists
• Nonviolence advocates
• 1947 births
• University of Wollongong faculty
• Free speech activists
• Anti-vaccination activists