Annals of academic put downs

Here is a nice one I found in a balanced review of Freakonomics (hat tip: Tyler Cowen) by James Q. Wilson:

Social scientists should never try to predict the future; they have trouble enough predicting the past.

Wilson heard it from his Ph.D. advisor, "no doubt quoting someone whose name I have forgotten".

BTW, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, the authors of Freakonomics, also have a blog.