Rogue Scientist Has Own Scientific Method

[lek]

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49180

"I'm sure my opponents would love to see me throw in the towel and start using empirical evidence to back every one of my theories," Hapner said. "They'd have a better chance convincing me that metals, like copper, are naturally strong conductors of electricity."

[Maksutov]

His method, which seems to be undocumented by the article, would appear to be, "If it feels good, it must be true!"

BTW, hasn't this guy posted in ATM under a pseudonym? :think:

[HenrikOlsen]

"It's true that I've been condemned and ridiculed by the world's most prominent chemists, as well as by a good number of amateur hobbyists," Hapner said as he rubbed a balloon on his head to demonstrate a basic principle of hydrodynamics. "But then, wasn't Einstein ridiculed when he unveiled his theory of relativity, or Copernicus when he posited that the Earth revolved around the sun? True, I have since proved them both wrong, but at least they took risks."
The author has definitely looked at some ATM boards.

[mickal555]

Heh,

the parallels...

[cjl]

Note the source...

[Vermonter]

"Bombarding a plutonium nucleus with accelerated electrons, long believed to produce a nuclear fission reaction, has, in fact, no consequence at all," Hapner said. "I'm going to prove that if it's the last thing I ever do."

And if he attempts it, it will be the last thing he ever does! :-D

[Gruesome]

If she weighs the same as a duck, then she's made of wood. And therefore....

[Sammy]

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49180

It would certainly be interesting to conduct some uncontrolled studies on this guy using "non-conducting copper wires" and the 3.5kV power supply of my ham transmitter. It obviously would be perfectly safe, as he has proven....

[Vermonter]

If she weighs the same as a duck, then she's made of wood. And therefore....
She's a witch! Burn the witch, burn her!

[Celestial Mechanic]

"Bombarding a plutonium nucleus with accelerated electrons, long believed to produce a nuclear fission reaction, has, in fact, no consequence at all," Hapner said. "I'm going to prove that if it's the last thing I ever do."And if he attempts it, it will be the last thing he ever does! :-D
Actually something could happen, but not anything very dire. First note that he is using electrons instead of neutrons. It is neutrons in a particular energy range that initiate fission. Of course we know this, but our "rogue scientist" has chosen to ignore this and much else as this hilarious spoof makes clear. The most that would happen might be to induce an inverse beta decay reaction, Ux + e- --> Pax + nue, where x is the baryon number of the nucleus.

[Halcyon Dayz]

"But then, wasn't Einstein ridiculed when he unveiled his theory of relativity, or Copernicus when he posited that the Earth revolved around the sun? True, I have since proved them both wrong, but at least they took risks."
"They made fun/tried to suppress Copernicus too."
Must be the pseudo-scientist's catch-phrase.

[antoniseb]

"They made fun/tried to suppress Copernicus too."

Of course, they didn't make fun of Copernicus to his face, because he published postumously.

[Gillianren]

Of course, they didn't make fun of Copernicus to his face, because he published postumously.

Or as near to as you can--the published version was presented to him on his deathbed.

[OptimusShr]

I knew there was a reason I loved the onion.

[Celestial Mechanic]

"They made fun/tried to suppress Copernicus too."
Must be the pseudo-scientist's catch-phrase.
Very true. Carl Sagan said it best:
But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

[TheBlackCat]

Except that Colombus deserved to be laughed at.

[hhEb09'1]

Except that Colombus deserved to be laughed at.Only in the same way that Sagan did :)

[GDwarf]

Only in the same way that Sagan did :)
Columbus argued that the world was actually very small, as such he could sail to China without a problem. Had the Americas not gotten in his way he most certainly would've died long before he reached his goal.

Columbus wasn't a brave new explorer proving the world was round, he was simply very, very lucky that his mis-calculation didn't turn out worse.

[hhEb09'1]

Columbus wasn't a brave new explorer proving the world was round.I'm aware of the story (http://www.bautforum.com/showthread.php?p=566645#post566645). He was a brave new explorer who knew the world was round, and persisted against a lot of opposition to establish his own worldview (or universeview). He was more lucky than good, in that regard.

[Donnie B.]

Has anyone examined the possibility that Columbus knew very well that his claimed size of the Earth was too small, but that he suspected the presence of another continent and felt it was easier to "sell" the small globe theory than the new world theory?

I have seen speculations that Columbus heard about land masses to the west from Scandanavian fishermen.

Of course, I've also heard that he continued to maintain that he'd made it to the East Indies long after it was obvious that the lands he'd found were not close to Asia.

[Donnie B.]

She's a witch! Burn the witch, burn her!It's a fair cop.

[hhEb09'1]

Has anyone examined the possibility that Columbus knew very well that his claimed size of the Earth was too small, but that he suspected the presence of another continent and felt it was easier to "sell" the small globe theory than the new world theory?I think almost every single possibility has been examined, except maybe for the one that he was a member of a subterranean species sent to initiate technological expansion on the surface of the earth, in order to warm up its insides. Oops. Now, we're done.

[Gillianren]

I'm aware of the story (http://www.bautforum.com/showthread.php?p=566645#post566645). He was a brave new explorer who knew the world was round, and persisted against a lot of opposition to establish his own worldview (or universeview). He was more lucky than good, in that regard.

You know, a heck of a lot of people of his time knew the world was round. (Though Columbus did decide during his voyages that it wasn't perfectly round!) The fact is, the worldview that he insisted on was wrong. Not only did he claim the Earth was smaller than it is, he claimed Asia stretched farther than it does.

[hhEb09'1]

(Though Columbus did decide during his voyages that it wasn't perfectly round!) Expand on that, please :)

[Maksutov]

toward each other Only in the same way that Sagan did :)A psychiatrist and hhEb09'1 are walking toward each other on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk. As they pass, hhEb09'1 says, "You are how?" The psychiatrist says nothing, but about five minutes later stops, rubs his goatee, and thinks, "I wonder what he meant by that?"

:) ;)

[hewhocaves]

The following statement is best presented in "Mad Libs" format:

"Wow, who let the ____(corporation, government, or woo-woo)___ primer on science out?"

[Argos]

Columbus argued that the world was actually very small, as such he could sail to China without a problem. Had the Americas not gotten in his way he most certainly would've died long before he reached his goal.

Columbus wasn't a brave new explorer proving the world was round, he was simply very, very lucky that his mis-calculation didn't turn out worse.

And he died adamantly believing his Asia theory, in spite of plenty of evidence on the contrary coming from the Portuguese.

[trinitree88]

And he died adamantly believing his Asia theory, in spite of plenty of evidence on the contrary coming from the Portuguese.

Argos. Good luck in the soccer matches...I believe I read once that Colombus had a copy of the Piri Reis map...and was sure he would hit land.???:silenced: Pete.

[Argos]

Good one trinitree. :)

Good luck you too! If Brazil falls I´m pulling for the US. ;)

[Gillianren]

Expand on that, please :)

He decided it was shaped closer to a pear--or a breast, with the mouth of the Amazon or so being the "nipple" bit, which was closest to Paradise. Welcome to "history more bizarre than you'd make up."

[hhEb09'1]

He decided it was shaped closer to a pear--or a breast, with the mouth of the Amazon or so being the "nipple" bit, which was closest to Paradise. Welcome to "history more bizarre than you'd make up."Well, he was crazy later. But the Amazon was first discovered a year or two before his last voyage. Why did he decide the earth was pear-shaped during the voyage--it didn't take him anywhere near the Amazon, did it?

[sarongsong]

He decided...He told you this?

[Bojan]

All this is just a waste of time, guys....

[hhEb09'1]

All this is just a waste of time, guys....I've been interested in all-things pear-shaped earth for a long time, so I disagree. Or was that an SRS :)

[Gillianren]

He told you this?

No; he told Ferdinand and Isabella. As to why he decided it, history does not record, or if it does, it's not mentioned in my reference book. He was just a little crazy, maybe. Anyway, it's from the log of his third voyage.

[hhEb09'1]

Anyway, it's from the log of his third voyage.Is that before the discovery of the Amazon?

[Gillianren]

Is that before the discovery of the Amazon?

No idea. On rereading the log entry, he doesn't actually mention the Amazon per se, but that's the general region he seems to think it is, anyway.

[hhEb09'1]

Did he say both breast and pear? H*ck, is there a link somewhere :)

I know we've discussed them before, but google didn't seem to help me this time. Maybe I shouldn't have included "breast" :)

[Gillianren]

He did, actually, yes. My information comes from (at least--I may have it in multiple reference books) Don't Know Much About Geography, an excellent book by Kenneth C. Davis. (Whose book Don't Know Much About the Universe is one of two books on astronomy I own. Guess what the other one is.)

[hhEb09'1]

I was just trying to figure out how it could be both, but I've found some sources that say "Instead he proposed that the earth was shaped like a pear with a rise 'like a woman's breast' on which rested the 'Terrestrial Paradise' (Garden of Eden) to which no man could sail without the permission of God."

So, the breast part was a portion of the pear, more or less. I'm going to defer judgement on his conclusion about the permission of God.

PS: what does Kenneth Davis say?

[HenrikOlsen]

I salute your googlian prowess for finding a relevant reference with a search term such as that one.

[Gillianren]

PS: what does Kenneth Davis say?

That the whole thing's a little weird, mostly. He just provides the quote in question as a chapter heading and comments about it briefly before moving on to the actual shape of the Earth. He says something like, "Well, the Earth's not totally round, true, but it really, really doesn't have a nipple or bulge as much as Columbus seemed to think."