Asri-unix.533 net.space utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!duke!chico!harpo!cbosg!ihnss!ucbvax!menlo70!sri-unix!POURNE@MIT-MC Sat Jan 16 01:22:38 1982 Harry Stein and Physics I suspect Harry's physics is a little better than some people's spelling. G. Harry Stine worked for a number of years as assistant to Dr. (Col.) William Davis. Now "Spacedrive" Davis was indeed considered wrong; but he was pretty well respected even so. Not a crackpot. I thought Harry's article a bit intemperate, but I've noticed a number of physicists who didn't seem very interested in looking at new data either. A few years ago we had a big meeting on Davis Mechanics and the Dean Drive, on the theory that if there was ANY chance of experimental data in contradiction to relativity it would be worth presewrving. Dr. Robert Forward of Hughes Research wasn't too proud to come to the meeting. Dr. Robert Bussard hasn't been too proud to discuss the subjhect. True, the evidence is skimpy to non-existent, and if you had to bet you'd have to put your money on general relativity; but even Forward points out that in the Einstein tensor, inertia and gravity aren't NECESSARILY equal. Empirically they turn out to be so to about 11 decimal places, but the Cal Tech people way there's still no really definitive reason why they should; at least that's what I think Lee and Lightman were saying. Certainly Forward says it. It's one thing to be convinced of orthodox physical theory and to defend it; it's quite another to become intemperate in the defense. Harry is probably wrong, and he loves to rattle people's cages anyway; leave it at that, and don't think it necessary to destroy the man. ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.