From: medved@access1.digex.net (Ted Holden)
Subject: Venus: Another piece of the big picture
Date: 6 Aug 1994 22:52:47 -0400[ ... ]
I claim that empirical evidence involving Venus is being doctored and falsified at every turn because it does not fit with scientists' pre-conceived ideas involving the age of our solar system, and because it does not match any of the logical requirements of Carl Sagan's "super-greenhouse" theory.
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Which is astonishing on the face of it, even aside from the clear statement by Taylor that the Pioneer Venus data is significantly more accurate than any prior measurement, and the clear implication that any and all past readings should simply be tossed.
Mr Holden's opinion is entirely based on these two critical points. The first point, that the data are being faked in order to avoid any possible agreement with Mr. Holden's own pre-conceived notions, is nothing more than a bald assertion. To ignore facts simply by claiming that the opposition are deliberate liars is really the last refuge of a scoundrel anyway, and I have no intention of addressing the matter, other than to assert with equal conviction that this claim is blatantly false.
The second, and far sneakier point, almost seems to make sense, and could easily trap the unwary. I will only mention in passing that if Taylor [F.W. Taylor, in chap. 20, Hunten, et al. (1983)] really had meant to imply that all data prior to PV should be "tossed out", then he could easily have said so more directly, or in fact, since he was the lead author of the paper in question, he could have simply done it. But he didn't do it, nor did he say it, nor did he imply it. We don't need Mr. Holden to tell us what Taylor "really" meant.
Obviously, this has been discussed many times before ...
This is basically Tim Thompson's desparate and idiotic claim that albedo values for Venus dating from the 1800's need to be averaged in with the good readings from Pioneer Venus in 1978, since that would produce a slightly lower number which would be more to his liking.
The basic problem: 1978 technology is simply better than 1878 technology.
Don't believe me? Lotsa different ways to settle that one... We could have a race: I'll use my 1995 automobile, and you can use a horse. Or a shooting contest: I'll use a modern rifle and you can use one of Custer's 45/70's. Or a boat race: I'll use a modern hydroplane and you can use a paddlewheel....
Tim Thompson is a total idiot and nobody with any brains and talent would quote him.