cause suspicion in the mind of a credentialled physicist, who can generally recognise a fringe theory by just looking at it, without even reading the text. The text itself will almost certainly herald its revolutionary nature in its opening paragraphs, claiming to reinvent if not the whole of physics, as in Carterâs unusual case, then at least substantial parts of it. At a minimum, the author will be proposing something radically new, and as often as not will have harsh words for the twin pillars of 20th century physics â relativity and quantum theory. Typically he or she will be offering an âalternativeâ, âsimplerâ, âmore comprehensibleâ explanation.
The academic science world can be harsh on men like Jim Carter and I use the male noun here specifically, for virtually all outsider physics theorists are men. Insider physics remains the most male-dominated of the academic sciences, and its outsider equivalents are almost always male. When credentialled physicists choose to comment on such theories at all, their remarks tend to be derisive, or at best dismissive. Most often, from the outsidersâ perspective, there will be something far worse: silence. Jim Carter bears such oversight stoically â so convinced is he that history will eventually side with his ideas â but for many outsider theorists the academic worldâs dismissal of their work is infuriating and heart-breaking. In all sincerity these men believe they have found âthe secrets of the universeâ, to use one of Jimâsfavourite terms, and they are eager to share their insights with the rest of us. Like insiders, they too want to illuminate the void of ignorance and expand the domain of scientific knowledge for all human beings. To a man, they believe they have discovered profound and simple truths essential to the workings of nature that mainstream physicists have missed.
* * * * *
For the past 15 years I have been collecting the work of âoutsider physicistsâ, as I have come to fondly think of these people, and I now have on my shelves around 100 such theories. Some of them are entire books, some are lengthy articles. Some are brief sketches for a theory while others are fully fleshed out. Some have been professionally printed, some are typewritten, and some, which I especially value, are handwritten, and in a few cases also hand-illustrated. My collecting has not been systematic or comprehensive in any way. I have pretty much taken what I have stumbled upon or what has come to me via the post or the internet through no particular solicitation on my part. Over the years I have been amazed at how much has come my way, for I am not a famous physicist. While it is true that I trained as a physicist and originally thought this would be my profession, after university I decided to become a science writer and have been working at that vocation my entire professional life. As I am not based at a university and work from home, I cannot be all that easy to find, yet over the years a steady stream of unorthodox theories has found its way to my door. I have kept them, chuckled at them, been simultaneously delighted and exasperated by them. Sometimes, as in Jimâs case, I have been enchanted by them. Slowly, as they massed on a shelf in my office, I found I could not ignore them: what did this collective outpouring of human effort represent?
* * * * *
In 1995, about 18 months after I received Carterâs announcement, I decided to take a trip to meet the man himself. As a science journalist, I thought he might be an interesting subject for an article and I did not then imagine writing a book. I had been invited to give a lecture at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington State, and after the talk I rented a car and drove out to Enumclaw, about 48km away. I had no idea what to expect and whatever I might have expected I think itâs safe to say I would have been wrong. Carter lived
The academic science world can be harsh on men like Jim Carter and I use the male noun here specifically, for virtually all outsider physics theorists are men. Insider physics remains the most male-dominated of the academic sciences, and its outsider equivalents are almost always male. When credentialled physicists choose to comment on such theories at all, their remarks tend to be derisive, or at best dismissive. Most often, from the outsidersâ perspective, there will be something far worse: silence. Jim Carter bears such oversight stoically â so convinced is he that history will eventually side with his ideas â but for many outsider theorists the academic worldâs dismissal of their work is infuriating and heart-breaking. In all sincerity these men believe they have found âthe secrets of the universeâ, to use one of Jimâsfavourite terms, and they are eager to share their insights with the rest of us. Like insiders, they too want to illuminate the void of ignorance and expand the domain of scientific knowledge for all human beings. To a man, they believe they have discovered profound and simple truths essential to the workings of nature that mainstream physicists have missed.
* * * * *
For the past 15 years I have been collecting the work of âoutsider physicistsâ, as I have come to fondly think of these people, and I now have on my shelves around 100 such theories. Some of them are entire books, some are lengthy articles. Some are brief sketches for a theory while others are fully fleshed out. Some have been professionally printed, some are typewritten, and some, which I especially value, are handwritten, and in a few cases also hand-illustrated. My collecting has not been systematic or comprehensive in any way. I have pretty much taken what I have stumbled upon or what has come to me via the post or the internet through no particular solicitation on my part. Over the years I have been amazed at how much has come my way, for I am not a famous physicist. While it is true that I trained as a physicist and originally thought this would be my profession, after university I decided to become a science writer and have been working at that vocation my entire professional life. As I am not based at a university and work from home, I cannot be all that easy to find, yet over the years a steady stream of unorthodox theories has found its way to my door. I have kept them, chuckled at them, been simultaneously delighted and exasperated by them. Sometimes, as in Jimâs case, I have been enchanted by them. Slowly, as they massed on a shelf in my office, I found I could not ignore them: what did this collective outpouring of human effort represent?
* * * * *
In 1995, about 18 months after I received Carterâs announcement, I decided to take a trip to meet the man himself. As a science journalist, I thought he might be an interesting subject for an article and I did not then imagine writing a book. I had been invited to give a lecture at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington State, and after the talk I rented a car and drove out to Enumclaw, about 48km away. I had no idea what to expect and whatever I might have expected I think itâs safe to say I would have been wrong. Carter lived
Similar Books
