Matabiri
11th January 2005, 05:05 AM
There is, alas, no scientific claim so preposterous that a scientist cannot be found to vouch for it. And many such claims end up in a court of law after they have cost some gullible person or corporation a lot of money. How are juries to evaluate them?
A handy list of warning signs that you are dealing with dubious science:
1. The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media (bypassing peer review).
2. The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work.
3. The scientific effect involved is always at the very limit of detection.
4. Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.
5. The discoverer says a belief is credible because it has endured for centuries.
6. The discoverer has worked in isolation.
7. The discoverer must propose new laws of nature to explain an observation.
(From here (http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i21/21b02001.htm))
ETA: One should probably also mention Clarke's First Law here as well:
"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
A handy list of warning signs that you are dealing with dubious science:
1. The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media (bypassing peer review).
2. The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work.
3. The scientific effect involved is always at the very limit of detection.
4. Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.
5. The discoverer says a belief is credible because it has endured for centuries.
6. The discoverer has worked in isolation.
7. The discoverer must propose new laws of nature to explain an observation.
(From here (http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i21/21b02001.htm))
ETA: One should probably also mention Clarke's First Law here as well:
"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."