Science Worth Studying
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. " - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Science -- Science... speak it forth... it almost sounds magical... nearly hhh-oly!
[sci-ence \ n 1: the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding]
WOW! It jus' about makes me tingle! You see as an educator, I'm well aware that I'd rather have a doctor who has read a book perform surgery on me, or a banker who knows how to count keep my money safe, and a pilot who's thumbed through more than a copy of Space Monkeys - Unite do the navigating. But I refuse to bow at the Shrine of Science. That old maxim still rings true: a little knowledge is dangerous. Honestly, I've met one too many teachers (at both comprehensive and continuation school campuses) who haven't been wrong in years. Just ask 'em! These self-professed intellectuals who look askance at everyone... even their students... don't know just how ignorant they are.
I've heard it said that a truly intelligent person realizes just how little he knows. And do we need to be reminded: theological seminaries have produced many duds?! But, it's the intelligencia and Ivy Leaguer-types, the all-knowing scientists of this Century... enlightened, wise, and certainly rational beyond belief and above reproach... the knowledgeable-Ones, the non-ignorant-Ones, the non-misunderstanding-Ones who have produced the greatest instruments of war and destruction. And if the only choice I have is between duds or bombs, I'll take the duds! So friends, get up off your knees -- the Scientific community ain't hardly all it advertises. Just enjoy the following links!
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Famous Scientist Links
Nikola Tesla, a preacher's kid, and a contemporary and rival of Thomas Edison, was an electrical inventor extraordinary. Among his many amazing discoveries, Tesla, in spite of Edison's DC (direct current) position (the chief position of Edison's own "General Electric Company"), developed the AC (alternating current) distribution of electricity (for "Westinghouse Electric Company") which is the distribution system used in the World today. Hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake.
Excerpts from: Prodigal Genius, the Life of Nikola Tesla, by John J. O'Neill, 1978
For more about Nikola Tesla, whom NYPD feared would destroy their city often leaving many scores of people excitedly pouring out into the streets abandoning neighboring tenement and factory buildings, all the while believing an earthquake had caused the smashing of windows, breaking of pipes, moving of furniture and strange vibrations,
Check out the following links, and wonder why his papers are still under "big Brother's" lock and key:
Astronomy Links
The Stephen Hawking Page
-- Perhaps one of the premiere Scientiffic thinkers of our times responded
to the on-going question -- Does God play dice? (By
the way, Albert Einstein didn't think so!). Recently in a lecture, Stephen
Hawking concluded:
...To sum up, what I have been talking about, is whether the universe
evolves in an arbitrary way, or whether it is deterministic. The classical
view, put forward by La~plass, was that the future motion of particles,
was completely determined, if one knew their positions and speeds at one
time. This view had to be modified, when Heisenberg put forward his Uncertainty
Principle, which said that one could not know both the position, and the
speed, accurately. However, it was still possible to predict one combination
of position and speed. But even this limited predictability disappeared,
when the effects of black holes were taken into account. The loss of particles
and information down black holes, meant that the particles that came out
were random. One could calculate probabilities, but one could not make
any definite predictions. Thus, the future of the universe is not
completely determined by the laws of science, and its present state, as
La~plass thought. God still has a few tricks up his
sleeve.
Digging around on the WWW, I discovered the following link to be the actual -- Dr. Stephen Hawking's Homepage .
Jet Propulsion Lab's Observations
Comet Shoemaker-Levy Home Page (JPL) -- Was there a cover-up regarding the serious and disturbing impact this Comet had when smashing into planet Jupiter?
NASA Astrophysics Data System ADS Abstract Service
Space Telescope Electronic Information Service
Hubble Space Telescope Public Pictures
Biology, Ecology and Big Bang (Big Fizzle) Links
Recently, I read the following quote from a supposed educator. Personally, he sounds more like a pompous foo' who needs his concrete-cranium cracked a little to let in some fresh air. By the way, these kind of self-styled, self-important educators are the type I steer as many kids away from. Why... as I already said, when they lecture it's as if they haven't been wrong in years! To them... IF anybody's wrong... it's everybody else.
It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that).
--Richard Dawkins, prominent Oxford scientist and author
WOW! Now... THAT certainly sounds intelligent and authoritative. The problem about Ricky D's eloquent pronouncement is... that his use of the emminently scientific lingo "wicked" is irrelevant to his all-knowledgeable point of view. From the primordial swaps which never included a quadrant of moralistic amoebas -- good or evil... to the spotty evolutionary "survival of the fittest" (a term which I truly do like, by the way... especially since it permits ALL of us including myself to just.. "go off" every once in a while and git away with it...) ... while looking under every rock... and after examining every sort of fossil including the all-too-familiar sub-specie Tyrannosaurus, I read no record left in the substratum of earth, from the Terradactyls of old to the recent southern tree Titi's and northern backwater Terrapins, none (not one...) left evidence for rational, moralistic behavior. In scientific jargon, wickedness does not exist. So dismissively, feel free to discount such silly, high sounding, yet inconsistant meaninglessness... whenever you hear it.
And in Celebration of taking a couple pot-shots at such snide sophistry from these sorts who presume to themselves an 'expertise' beyond their field of research and study while engaging in name callin' (the likes you may find in the local second grade classroom...) I give you the following links to enjoy:
These two links (and only two... don't get greedy!! by the way, another un-scientific term...) are from a list too long to enumerate here. They are dedicated to any and all prominent pontificates of scientific absolutism and know-it-all-ness... especially dedicated to the likes of those who lead the lofty lectures at places like... ahhOxford! (ooh! ahh!) (By the way... It's funny... Do you know what 'Ox-ford' means?)
The Church Of Darwin by Dr. Phillip Johnson, University of California, Berkeley... who begins his article in The Wall Street Journal quoting a Chinese paleontologist who recently upset American scientists when he commented: "In China we can criticize Darwin but not the government. In America you can criticize the government but not Darwin."
And High School kids and other students... DON'T read the following!!: Challenging Darwin's Myths
So... have you figured it out? I don't subscribe to much of the Swiss cheese theories of the Missing Links... with the exception that occasionally... and in fact... while scouring the WWW in endless research and investigation... I begin to wonder when I uncover the cRude gruntings and groanings of a possible throw back to Neanderthal or Pre-Cambrian man uncharacteristically donning the Oxfordian halls in his gay apparel disguise! A little knowledge... even at the University level... can be dangerous, too! (smile)
Check out more comments about: aLmIgHty Science...?!
Now... on to interesting PHYSICS links:
Werner Heisenberg's "Uncertainty Principle" (1927) gives a glimpse into the nature of reality as well as provides essential tools of modern work in key areas of practical technology-- including the electronics we use use to read this text. And it provides the basic understanding for those intricate superconducting instruments developed by microelectronic physicists that use electron tunneling to detect tiny magnetic fields useful for safe brain scan techniques.
Additionally, the Heisenberg "Uncertainty Principle" has to do with the relationship of near simultaneous, co-locations of the basic elements that make up the universe. This principle is not simply a philosophy. Rather, it predicts real properties of electrons. The "Uncertainly Principle" and other theories are also being studied to advance the notion that electrons jump at random from one energy state to another state which they could never reach "except that their energy is momentarily uncertain".
To understand this concept of "tunneling" that makes possible the nuclear reactions powering the sun and many other processes, our engineers may be provided with a means for sudden travel over unimagineable distances. Incredible as it sounds, the "Uncertainly Principle" may help the scientific community to bypass archaic concepts of travel through time, inch by inch, mile by mile... to suddenly traverse incredible distances of space -- here, then there... in an eye blink.
Now... to ECOLOGY and preserving our Environment:
Visit the Habitats Path along the Pacific Ocean at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Well, sort a... Ecology at its finest! or is it bureaucracy??
BIOENGINEERING: Is it true that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has misrepresented facts in order to approve certain genetically altered foods? And is it true that the FDA's motivation to promote the biotech industry was so strong that it not only disregarded the warnings of its own scientists about the unique risks of gene-spliced foods, but also dismissed them and took a public position that was the opposite?
For more, read the website of Dr. Ron Epstein, San Francisco State University:
Unusual Science Links
You may ask "Why Unusual Science Links?" Actually, the answer is quite simple -- it certainly leads students and other free thinkers beyond the boundaries of the proverbial party line of academia.
Recently, John Greenewald, Jr -- a 17 year old Senior high school student... interests have carried him to much national attention pursuing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). His comprehensive website The Black Vault has many fascinating declassified government documents. As John puts it: "Where Government Secrets... Become Known!"
The Philadelphia Experiment from A-Z
The Enterprise Mission by Richard Hoagland, author The Monuments of Mars - A City on the Edge of Forever, 4th edition
Additional interesting link suggestions are appreciated. Please e-mail me your favorite sites. Thanks!
