On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 10:45 AM, OrionWorks - Steven V Johnson < svj.orionwo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Jed, > > Since you are a pretty decent historian on a number of events... > > Regarding the Right Brothers, when proof became irrefutable that their > contraption could fly under power, how did some of the most ardent > (and well known) skeptics deal with the news? I'm not Jed, and you've got the Rong brothers, but I can answer anyway. First of all, the scientific mainstream was not skeptical of powered flight, although there were some skeptics, most notably Lord Kelvin. The subject was treated with respect from before 1900 by journals like Science, Nature, and Scientific American. It was regarded by most scientists as inevitable, and in any case, could not be regarded as contrary to any physical principles or generalizations already accumulated and verified, because after all, birds are heavier than air. That's a difference compared to cold fusion. However, there was widespread skepticism of the Wright's claims of flights in 1904 and 1905 (and earlier) (especially in Europe), largely because of the Wrights' own restrictions on the press and photography. (Contrary to Rossi's secret sauce, the Wright's secrets could in fact be photographed.) It could have been resolved quickly, but the Wrights did not fly at all in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, when they flew in France, it took 105 seconds for all skepticism to vanish. Wikipedia puts it like this: "The Wright brothers catapulted to world fame overnight. Former doubters issued apologies and effusive praise. L'Aérophile editor Georges Besançon wrote that the flights "have completely dissipated all doubts. Not one of the former detractors of the Wrights dare question, today, the previous experiments of the men who were truly the first to fly...." Producing heat is not quite as obvious as powered flight, but it's close, and a similarly convincing demo would be easy to design, if the claims were real. Rossi's Kitty Hawk was in 2008, in his factory that was heated for 2 years by an ecat. Jan 2011 should have been his France demo, and he has had a dozen of them this year, with invited press and scientists. But he has not catapulted to fame, and skeptics have not capitulated. Instead of setting up a demo like that of the Wright brothers in France (which might involve heating an olympic pool without any input power, or something), Rossi encloses his observers in a room without windows, and has his associates read remote altimeters, and then he gives the observers a scan of the paper where the altitude is written down. Is it any wonder, skeptics still are. When he flings the doors open, and lets the public see the ecat soar, he will get his love.
