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  1. Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
  2. Path: sparky!uunet!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!guru.med.cornell.edu!phydeaux
  3. From: phydeaux@guru.med.cornell.edu (Dave Weingart)
  4. Subject: Re: In defense of crackpots ( was Re: Repost of Truzzi Lecture: )
  5. Message-ID: <1992Dec31.160730.393@mail.cornell.edu>
  6. Sender: news@mail.cornell.edu
  7. Nntp-Posting-Host: guru.med.cornell.edu
  8. Nntp-Posting-User: @cornell.edu
  9. Organization: CUMC
  10. References: <1992Dec23.003135.20240@netcom.com> <1hk78vINN34t@gap.caltech.edu> <C03HC5.98n@fs7.ece.cmu.edu> <6774@tuegate.tue.nl>
  11. Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 16:07:30 GMT
  12. Lines: 29
  13.  
  14. In article <6774@tuegate.tue.nl>, wsadjw@rw7.urc.tue.nl (Jan Willem Nienhuys) writes:
  15. |> Maybe it would be a good point to know which "great ideas in science"
  16. |> started out (supposedly) as crackpot ideas, and some information about
  17. |> how quickly they were accepted would come in handy too.
  18. |> 
  19. |> Here's for starters:
  20. |> Galilei. The people who did not believe him were people outside of 
  21. <example deleted>
  22. |> The Wright brothers.  (Often quoted by TM people). Did people laugh at
  23. <example deleted> 
  24. |> Einstein. Special relativity was thought to be ridiculous by people
  25. |> who didn't know too much about about physics.  How long did it take
  26.  
  27. It was also thought ridiculous by physicists.  Science is by it's nature conservative.
  28.  
  29. |> Semmelweis.  Semmelweis's big mistake was that he called everybody
  30. <deleted>
  31.  
  32. |> Any comments?
  33.  
  34. To quote Carl Sagan (more or less...my memory of the quote is not exact):
  35. "They laughed at Galileo.  They laughed at the Wright brothers.  But they also laughed
  36. at Bozo the Clown.
  37.  
  38. -- 
  39. 73 de David Weingart  KB2CWF    In the event I am captured or killed, the
  40. phydeaux@cumc.cornell.edu       Cornell University Medical College and the
  41. phydeaux@guru.med.cornell.edu   Department of Academic Computing will disavow
  42. phydeaux@src4src.linet.org      any knowledge of my opinions.
  43.