I wish people would refrain from doing these grand orchestrated
introductions. Two reasons:
1. It might fail, and thereby backfire.
2. It seems like something P. T. Barnum would do, rather than science.
A series of low-key, matter-of-fact demonstrations in the laboratory
would be better. This is how Edison introduce the incandescent light
to the public. He strung lights outside the lab, and people came to
see them at night. He overcame enormous resistance from the
establishment. He did not try to defeat the naysayers in a single
day, but gradually, over a period of weeks.
There have been a few single, grand demonstrations that instantly
convinced large numbers of people, notably:
Westinghouse's unplanned demonstration of the airbrake during a test
run, in which the train narrowly avoided colliding with a wagon on the tracks.
Wilbur Wright's flight in France on August 8, 1908, which convinced
the Europeans.
Orville Wright's flight of September 3, 1908, which convinced
Americans and Pres. Roosevelt's son. The Americans paid no attention
to the European press, which was already gaga over the Wrights.
The plutonium fission bomb test of July 16, 1945, and the uranium
bomb attack on August 6, 1945. The latter was more-or-less a sure
thing in the minds of most physicists, but I think there were some
doubts about the feasibility of implosion bombs. This is kind of
history we could do without.
- Jed
