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From: David Hoyte (no email)
Date: Sat Aug 16 2003 - 00:11:03 EDT
> From:
> David may prefer to "get out of the school-room", but an attempt to change
> the basic laws of science by asking for the opinions of mariners will be
> futile. To support his case he needs either contrary numerical observation
> or contrary logical argument, but presents neither.
George seems to be making the same fundamental error as those centuries
of "School Men" in the Roman Catholic institutions of learning, who accepted
the statements of Aristotle on scientific matters as unquestionable Truth.
These are the bright boys, remember, who threatened Galileo with torture
unless
he stopped asserting that the Earth went round the Sun . . . because it
contradicted Aristotle.
Francis Bacon in 1626 was the first to "get out of the schoolroom" and seek
the
facts of matters directly, by experiment: He stoped his carriage in the snow
and
stuffed a dead chicken with the snow, to see if that would keep it edible for
longer.
He set the whole pattern of modern experimental science, after centuries of
head-in-the-clouds theorising based on Aristotle's "scientific" assertions.
We have whole tribes of theoretical boys still, who are grossly insulted if
you
suggest a practical cross-check on their "Proven Theories". They can even
get
quite rude on occasions! But more than 50 years as a practicing industrial
scientist has taught me the wisdom of real-life checks on theoretical
conclusions.
So: Yes! I will certainly try to find sea-going persons who are responsible
for the profitable operation of large ships to tell me if they have tried to
steer them around the hills and dips in the ocean, and the financial ($$)
results they found.
I feel that further theoretical discussions would be fruitless at this stage.
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> Geophysics isn't really my subject, so I hope I've got things about right.
> If not, someone please tell me.
I have difficulty in distinguishing which of George's statements he feels are
100% certain, and which he rates as 10% or 1% certain.
David Hoyte ()
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