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Posted on 07/28/2011 4:01:05 PM PDT by kathsua
Is Physicist Stephen Hawking Overrated?First off that title has nothing to do with the article. Second, is he overrated? Well, that depends who is asked.
In 2000 a poll by and of Physicists was taken for who contributed more to Physics in the 20th Century than any other. Hawking finished dead last. And the ones who finished above him? Most of the Physicists named 'we' would prolly have never have heard of. This Dead Last finish was in spite of Hawking's best selling book, A Brief History of Time, which opened up the world of Physics to millions of 'regular folk', many of whom I'm sure choose Physics as their life's work after reading it when young. Now to me that's a pretty good 'contribution to Physics'.
Not to mention Hawking's groundbreaking work ON Black Holes. Hawking 'sort of took' a calculation in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, re: Gravity, which resulted in ' = ∞ ' (Infinity Not Good in Physics) and said, 'Okay baby - show me all you got!' And what he got was; Black Holes, the Event Horizon and the Singularity. Which 'kinda proved'(/s) the Big Bang Theory as they're basically the same, just on different scales.
But to Physicists all that meant diddle (What have you done for me lately Stephen?) so he finished last. However to 'regular people' you mention Stephen Hawking and everyone knows who he is -- besides 'a famous guy in a wheelchair' (personally I find THAT very offensive).
Okay.... All that being said, is Stephen Hawking wrong on CO2 and the Greenhouse Effect - You Betcha! But that's okay as nobody is perfect. Plus that's not his area of expertise so his OPINION on that means just as much as 'Joe the Barber'. Plus it's not like Hawking is always correct. In 2010 he even (or finally) admitted one of his past Theories was (gasp!) wrong. It was proved, and he admitted, his Theory on 'Hawking Radiation' and Black Holes eventually 'disappearing' was incorrect and that 'information' can never be lost - which always was a fundamental Law of Physics.
an aside: Einstein knew his Gravity Calculation resulting in ∞ presented a BIG problem. But Einstein believed that the odds of it (infinite gravity) actually occurring was zero, so it was ignored.
Lastly, as to Hawking being a 'Godless Atheist'. He always wasn't one and in any case I don't care. It's 100% irrelevant and he'll find out soon enough anyway how wrong he was on that too.
That is all. Time for me to get back to working on my Cold Fusion Reactor in the garage.
Black holes are, by definition, invisible and will always be invisible. They are mathematical constructs, basically division by zero, and are inferred from certain observations.
Are there other, observable, testable causes for those observations? Yes. The observations can be duplicated with electrical current moving through plasma. There is no such thing as a 'black hole'.
Black holes are absolutely visible, by the matter falling into them. That matter radiates observable energy.
No Sam. They are inferred from observations that are assumed to be generated by 'matter falling into them'. There is a huge difference. And again, electrical current moving through a plasma also radiates observable energy.
If you even read The Electric Universe, it must not have had an impact.
When charged particles get accelerated (as they do when they fall into black holes) they get ionized and emit radiation. The radiation intensifies as the acceleration increases.
There are many black holes but the really interesting ones are at the center of galaxies.
Our galaxy has a central black hole about 4 million times the mass of our sun.
Venus's atmosphere is over 96% CO2. Earth's atmosphere is only 0.0378% CO2. And Venus is twice as close to the sun as Earth. Steve, it just ain't gonna happen until the Sun goes into its red giant stage.That's absolutely correct. There has never been a greater scientific travesty than the theory of "Anthropogenic Global Warming". It's worse even than the theories of Phlogiston, or Universal Ether.
Hover on my screen-name. You’ll see I joined FR sometime shortly after 9/11. I am fairly active on this site and I am on the ping list for all these physics articles. You’ll have to take my word for it that this is not the first time I’ve seen the link you just posted, and this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of the Electric Universe.
I’d rather not get into all that.
I’m just letting you know that I’ve been aware of The Electric Universe for a long time.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you not to post links to the theory. I’m not criticizing you in any way. I’m just letting you know I’ve already experienced the “reading enjoyment” of the Electric Universe theory, that’s all.
No offense intended.
Not trying to start an argument.
Just letting you know.
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Do you know how we accelerate charged particles so that they emit radiation on earth? We use electricity to do that.
"There are many black holes but the really interesting ones are at the center of galaxies."
Do you realize that you speak of imaginary, invisible objects as though they are real (black holes), yet ignore real observable phenomena (electrical acceleration of charged particles) as though it does not exist?
"Our galaxy has a central black hole about 4 million times the mass of our sun."
Again, black holes are not observed. They are inferred. Conversely, electrical acceleration of charged particles that emit radiation is observed yet ignored.
Welcome to 'science'?
I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I don’t think physics is for our enjoyment, it’s for explaining how the universe works.
And it has nothing to do with diversity. Theories stand or fall on their validity, not their diversity.
(I’m not even sure what you mean in your remark about diversity and I don’t care. It has nothing to do with diversity.)
Here’s some recent news regarding the black hole at the center of the galaxy:
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/07/black-hole-collision-may-have-se.html
Did you notice that instead of one invisible, inferred object, you now have two?
Did you notice how quickly you brushed off the fact that we use electricity to accelerate charged particles until they give off radiation on earth where it can be tested yet you assume that gravity does this out in the center of the galaxy where it cannot be tested?
Do you see the words ‘could’, ‘apparently’ and ‘plausible’ or are you simply determined to believe that black holes are a fact?
Being serious is commendable, but don’t lose your sense of humor over it.
I’m not getting into the discussion you want on this thread. Start one on that subject, ping me, and I’ll join in.
Sorry. I glossed over the humor. My bad.
What are you talking about?
pendejo, oh pendeyyyy-oooo, daylight come and I wanna go home...
I syrup that the bunny didn’t have an earectomy.
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