Split Thread Hannes Alfven's cosmology
- Thread starter W.D.Clinger
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RecoveringYuppy
Penultimate Amazing
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You can't be sure because that is pretty much a statement, arguably not even an argument, from ignorance. There simply is no basis for that conclusion at the moment.
shemp
a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
Sometimes a response requires a lot of thought.
smartcooky
Penultimate Amazing
Yeah, this was accidental... I was referencing this part of the quoted post in another thread...
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13776797&highlight=Alfven#post13776797
...and got my tabs confused. I didn't catch the mistake until after the edit time had expired.
Last edited:
jonesdave116
Philosopher
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Well worth the effort, though, as it alerted me to yet another excellent post by Tim Thompson!
Problem with Alfven's cosmology is that cosmology was not his forte, and he was writing decades ago. In hindsight, it is obvious nonsense. He actually qualified in electrical engineering. However, his influence on plasma physics is undeniable. Hence the Nobel.
When he teamed up with Oscar Klein, and proposed his matter-anti-matter universe, he was cracking on a bit. He had been left behind. Even in plasma physics. His contributions to that subject cannot be denied. They are on the same level as Biermann and Parker. Modern plasma (astro)physicists know more than Alfven could ever have known about the subject. Ask Tusenfem. What he got right is kept. What he got wrong is discarded. He speculated. Sometimes he was right, sometimes he was wrong. Such is science.
catsmate
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It happens to us all.