Reversing the bandwagon that ran over Tim Hunt | Letters

Now that there has been time for some quiet reflection, I feel I must raise a voice against the tsunami of opprobrium that has fallen on Prof Tim Hunt. I, like most other feminists, was appalled by what he said, but the action of UCL in effectively dismissing him was surely excessive (Scientist quits after sexism row, 11 June). Who among us can pretend we have never said anything foolish? Prof Hunt has apologised unreservedly, and the best response to his statement about women in laboratories was that of the Twitter campaign #distractinglysexy (Report, 13 June), which was both to the point and very funny indeed.

Who is served by Prof Hunt's hounding out of the academic community? He is a Nobel prize winner and, as such, surely still has a contribution to make to science and, thereby, society. I urge UCL and the other institutions from which he felt required to resign to call him back.