Our progress in accumulating reliable knowledge through science is in large part dependent on people like you who will take a stand against error and empty reassurances. I'm grateful that you have been so brave about it!

And I'm sorry this is such a socially difficult thing to do. The publish-or-perish model of academia, while having some positive aspects, really encourages people to pull the wrong way on this.

But at least you were working in a field where it was possible to check that things were as they should be. Imagine if you'd had to take everything on faith alone, and you and the others would have spent so much more time and effort on something that wasn't true.

Having to deal with this on top of Elizabeth's dishonest incompetency really makes for an awful situation, though. Either one would be hard enough to manage.