There seems to be a whole shadowy community out there, of unofficial and unorthodox "researchers" into all sorts of things. Some of them are perfectly respectable, retired academics dabbling in things a bit outside their professional field; some of them are ... rather more eccentric than that. We get a steady trickle of letters and emails from propounders of way-out theories, like the one who wrote to my old boss to suggest that the missing solar neutrinos were being captured in the Arecibo dish.
There are reasons for the peer-review system. In some ways it may be unfortunate that the system is so heavily stacked against those without some kind of institutional affiliation, and the lines between good, innovative science, bad science, and pure crankery aren't always as clear as we'd like. I'm pretty sure I know where I'd put crop circles on that continuum, though.
Mission Statement
Reading, writing, plant photography, and the small details of my life, with digressions into science and computing.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-07 04:15 pm (UTC)There are reasons for the peer-review system. In some ways it may be unfortunate that the system is so heavily stacked against those without some kind of institutional affiliation, and the lines between good, innovative science, bad science, and pure crankery aren't always as clear as we'd like. I'm pretty sure I know where I'd put crop circles on that continuum, though.