Re: The speed of gravity

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

At 0:53 -0700 9/5/02, Michael Bowen wrote:
> We all "know" how this particular experiment will turn out, but it's still
> an interesting read.
>
> http://www.missouri.edu/~news/releases/gravitymeasuring.html
The lead paragraph of this press release contains a word that should
be removed permanently from the vocabulary of every scientist and
every science writer:

> Ever since Albert Einstein proposed the general theory of relativity
> in 1916, physicists worldwide have tested the theory's underlying
> principles. While some principles - such as the speed of light is a
> constant - have been proven, others have not. Now, through a
> combination of modern technology, the alignment of a unique group of
> celestial bodies on Sept. 8, and an experiment conceived by a
> University of Missouri-Columbia physicist, one more of those
> principles might soon be proven.

That is the verb "to prove" and all its declinations. It would be
much better for science if we left that word to the mathematicians
and the lawyers.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
<mailto:haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

(919) 467-7610

Let's face it. People use a Mac because they want to, Windows because they
have to..
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