Academia is a paper tiger. The Internet means you don't need a publisher for your work. Ironically, this self published blog might be one of his most read works yet.
You never needed a publisher; before the Internet you could write up your findings and mail them to relevant people in your field. Quite a lot of scientists did this, actually.
What publication in a journal gives you is context, social proof, and structured placement in public archives like libraries. This remains true in the age of the Internet.
