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To: longshadow
Any of you guys get the feeling some of the quotes are slightly out of context?

The quotes are fine, but the tone of the article strikes me as wrong. It seems to give the impression that these discoveries are a problem for astronomers and physicists. In fact, we're absolutely delighted by them. Nothing excites us like new puzzles to solve. It's an opportunity to work on something new and interesting, an opportunity to learn, and for some, an opportunity to make names for themselves.

The clarion call of science is not the triumphant "Eureka!" of Archimedes, but the indignant "Who ordered that?!" of Isidor Isaac Rabi.

19 posted on 06/30/2003 7:29:36 PM PDT by Physicist
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To: Physicist
It's an opportunity to work on something new and interesting, an opportunity to learn, and for some, an opportunity to make names for themselves.

I really LIKE that attitude! I think that real scientists think like that! Not to turn this into an anti-Evolution thread, but my peeve with them is that everytime some new evidence comes out that refutes any part of Evolutionary Theory, some scientists immediately announce:

"We know 3 things:
God does not exist.
Evolutionary Theory is definitely correct.
We can absorb this new evidence without fundamentally re-thinking anything."

24 posted on 06/30/2003 7:37:37 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: Physicist
The quotes are fine, but the tone of the article strikes me as wrong. It seems to give the impression that these discoveries are a problem for astronomers and physicists. [snip]

That's essentially what I was getting at; from the quotes the author chose to use, one gets the impression of Cosmologists all sitting around tugging their forelocks whilst wailing "Woe is me! Woe is me! All is lost!"

The point that is lost is that we are now CLOSER to understanding reality than we were BEFORE the evidence for dark matter/energy became persuasive; notwithstanding the fact that we don't yet know the details. This is progress, while the tone of the article gives the impression that it is a greaat leap backwards for science. Nothing could be further from the truth.

40 posted on 06/30/2003 8:13:13 PM PDT by longshadow
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To: Physicist
..."Who ordered that?!" of Isidor Isaac Rabi.

Upon the discovery of the muon, correct? That is by far my favorite physics quote!

My favorite physics dis, though I can't remember who said it, was a reworking of Newton: "If I have seen farther than others, it's because I've looked over the shoulders of midgets..."

49 posted on 06/30/2003 8:44:52 PM PDT by Charles H. (The_r0nin) (Physicists do it with force and energy!)
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To: Physicist
BINGO:

The clarion call of science is not the triumphant "Eureka!" of Archimedes, but the indignant "Who ordered that?!" of Isidor Isaac Rabi.

61 posted on 06/30/2003 9:33:25 PM PDT by GOPJ
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