Antti Savinainen is certainly correct when he says, "it is 'new science' to
many (if not most) high school and college level textbooks."
Pressure-induced melting of ice as the explanation for ice skating and the
wire-through-ice demonstration just doesn't want to go away. Of course this
is not the only example of bad science that seems to hang around forever.
Scientists often proudly exclaim science corrects itself. That might be
true, but it sure is a slow process.
In this regard I would like to congratulate Antti and his student Mikko for
their contribution in helping spread the word about the correct
interpretation of this demonstration.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
1 University Drive
Bluffton, OH 45817
419.358.3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu