What is the title and author of a book that had (I believe) on its
cover a field of marigolds or dandelions? The central theme of the
book was a society that had evolved to an adjudication state where
conflict and/or problems between individuals were brought a
person(s)(judge) who was specially trained to resolve conflict by
always objectively deal
with issues and never to do subjectively. Example: If someone said,
"It is raining!" The judge might reply, "You have just stated that "It
is raining!" I have no independant information that it was raining at
the time you stated; nor, have I personally observed the conditions
you described.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 18 Jun 2003 09:18 PDT

I'd love to help you track down your book. Am I correct in assuming
that this is a work of fiction? Would it be categorized as science
fiction, or is it more mainstream? Do you have any idea of an
approximate publication date? Even knowing the decade would help.

Any other details you can remember, however small or nebulous, may be
helpful. Sometimes a tiny clue is just what a Researcher needs to zero
in on an answer.

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Clarification of Question by david37-ga on 18 Jun 2003 09:42 PDT

Yes, book could be considered science fiction. The book's publication
date would have been prior to 1975

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 18 Jun 2003 11:36 PDT

Do me a favor...have a look at this link:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/books/n0/n3269.htm?authorid=1141

and tell me if it rings any bells.

Howdy david37!

Could it be Robert Heinlein's 1961 "Stranger in a Strange Land"
by chance?

This page describes a character's "Fair Witness" credentials.
http://www.freerepublic.com/~fairwitness/

"'Fair Witness' is a profession invented by Robert Heinlein
in his novel 'Stranger in a Strange Land'. Heinlein does not
spend much time actually defining what a Fair Witness is,
letting the description come out in the narrative in several
places. A concise description, from a book review of 'Stranger'
on Amazon.com, is as follows: 'The concept of a Fair Witness is
intriguing. This is a profession trained to be absolutely
impartial witnesses, with total recall. Their testimony in
court is considered solid fact.'

Point to a white house and ask a Fair Witness what color it is
and he/she will tell you "white on this side". They will not
guess that the whole house is the same as the part they can see,
but only report what they sense and experience directly."