[net.origins] Bogus Physics

ins_akaa@jhunix.UUCP (Ken Arromdee) (03/02/86)

>> 1) According to Einstein, it's relative--there _is_no_such_thing_ as
>> absolute rest.  You _can_ say that the sun goes around the earth; the math
>> is just easier the other way.
>> Kenneth Arromdee
>
>Oh come on folks!!!  The sun (universe) does not twirl around the earth!!!
>Einstein never even implied such a thing.
>Motion is relative *only* when considering inertial reference frames,
>as determined by Lawrence transformations.
>Rotation is definitely not an inertial reference frame.
>It is not a matter of mathematical complexity,
>the earth really does rotate.
>Put simplistically (as we must when posting to this newsgroup),
>if the universe spun around the earth, it would fly apart,
>and even nearby galaxies would be traveling faster than light.
>Similarly, the earth revolves around the sun,
>and the solar system revolves within our galaxy.
>These are not arbitrary conventions, they are facts.
>The amount of bogus physics in this newsgroup is astonishing.
>			Karl Dahlke    

This originally started with a challenge to a creationist to provide examples
of his statement that there are empirical propositions more established than
evolution, and he responded by saying the earth goes around the sun.  Would
net.physics readers please tell me how accurate my response was, as far as
physics goes?  (I am not a physics major, and it is quite possible I was wrong).
-- 
"We are going to give a little something, a few little years more, to
socialism, because socialism is defunct.  It dies all by iself.  The bad thing
is that socialism, being a victim of its... Did I say socialism?" -Fidel Castro

Kenneth Arromdee
BITNET: G46I4701 at JHUVM and INS_AKAA at JHUVMS
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ins_adsf@jhunix.UUCP (David S Fry) (03/03/86)

...
>> Motion is relative *only* when considering inertial reference frames,
>> as determined by Lawrence transformations.
...
>> Put simplistically (as we must when posting to this newsgroup),
>> if the universe spun around the earth, it would fly apart,
>> and even nearby galaxies would be traveling faster than light.
>> Similarly, the earth revolves around the sun,
>> and the solar system revolves within our galaxy.
>> These are not arbitrary conventions, they are facts.
>> The amount of bogus physics in this newsgroup is astonishing.
>>                       Karl Dahlke    


    I don't intend to get involved in the evolution argument, but if the 
universe would fly apart when rotating about the earth, it will just as
surely disintegrate when rotating about the sun.  So that reasoning falls
apart.  Nothing really rotates strictly about anything. 
    It is correct that Einstein spoke about inertial reference frames, but
a note to Mr. Dahlke:  name calling begins at home.  Refering to Lorentz
transformations as "Lawrence transformations" shows that your knowledge
in this field is also "bogus".


                        - David Fry
                       ...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplcen!jhunix!ins_adsf
                          Johns Hopkins University
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Rien n'est beau que le vrai, le vrai seul est aimable."

                      - Boileau

kendalla@orca.UUCP (Kendall Auel) (03/05/86)

In article <2057@jhunix.UUCP> ins_adsf@jhunix.UUCP (David S Fry) writes:

>>> The amount of bogus physics in this newsgroup is astonishing.
>>>                       Karl Dahlke    
>
>    I don't intend to get involved in the evolution argument, but if the 
>universe would fly apart when rotating about the earth, it will just as
>surely disintegrate when rotating about the sun.  So that reasoning falls
>apart.  Nothing really rotates strictly about anything. 

David Fry has just proven Karl Dahlke's point. The amount of bogus physics
_and_ bogus logic in this newsgroup is sometimes unbelievable.

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pete@valid.UUCP (Pete Zakel) (03/07/86)

> a note to Mr. Dahlke:  name calling begins at home.  Refering to Lorentz
> transformations as "Lawrence transformations" shows that your knowledge
> in this field is also "bogus".
> 
>                         - David Fry

So he didn't remember how to spell "Lorentz".  That makes his knowledge bogus?
I know many programmers that can't spell or construct grammatical sentences.
They are still quite good programmers.  How does lack of spelling knowledge
relate to physics knowledge?
-- 
-Pete Zakel (..!{hplabs,amd,pyramid,ihnp4}!pesnta!valid!pete)

cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (03/11/86)

> > a note to Mr. Dahlke:  name calling begins at home.  Refering to Lorentz
> > transformations as "Lawrence transformations" shows that your knowledge
> > in this field is also "bogus".
> > 
> >                         - David Fry
> 
> So he didn't remember how to spell "Lorentz".  That makes his knowledge bogus?
> I know many programmers that can't spell or construct grammatical sentences.
> They are still quite good programmers.  How does lack of spelling knowledge
> relate to physics knowledge?
> -- 
> -Pete Zakel (..!{hplabs,amd,pyramid,ihnp4}!pesnta!valid!pete)

Misspelling "Lorentz" as "Lorintz", or "Larentz" would suggest that Mr.
Dahlke has at least read something about "Lorentz transformations" but
couldn't remember the spelling.  Turning it into "Lawrence" suggests he
hasn't ever read anything on the subject -- just relying on what he heard
on the radio or at a party.

gadfly@ihuxn.UUCP (Gadfly) (03/13/86)

--
> a note to Mr. Dahlke:  name calling begins at home.  Refering to Lorentz
> transformations as "Lawrence transformations" shows that your knowledge
> in this field is also "bogus".
> 
>                         - David Fry

The hell it does.  Think, Mr. Fry.  Scientifically, even.  By what
plausible hypothesis could a person know his subject matter cold but
make the blatant (hint: but homonymic) spelling error above?  After
all, we've all seen Lorentz's name in the literature so often...

...Or have we?  Well, I won't keep you in suspense any longer, Dave.
Mr. Dahlke, whom I know personally, is totally blind.  If I were
you, Dave, I'd feel mighty small right now, but who knows, it might
just be a (no, stop Ken, don't inflict this pun on the world--you
promised to use your skill only for good, never for evil--no, please!)
Lorentz contraction.
-- 
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