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The book received a favorable reception from the general public,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/067974049X | title = Editorial Reviews | work = Amazon.com }}</ref> but divided the scientific community.<ref name=Stenger>{{cite journal | first = Victor J. | last = Stenger | title = Is the Big Bang a Bust? | url = http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/bang.txt | journal = [[Skeptical Inquirer]] | volume = 16 | issue = 412 | date = Summer 1992 }}</ref><ref name=Penzias>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DD1F39F93BA25755C0A967958260 "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction"], New York Times, June 18, 1991</ref><ref name=Davies>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFD8123CF932A3575AC0A967958260 "Did the Big Bang Happen?"], New York Times, Sep 1, 1991</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Feuerbacher and Scranton|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html#lerner|title=Evidence for the Big Bang}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evolutionpages.com/big_bang_no_myth.htm|title=The Big Bang is not a Myth|author=Macandrew, Alec}}</ref><ref name=Carroll>A critique of the tactics of Eric Lerner mentioning him explicitly by name appears on [[Sean Carroll]]'s [[blog]], [http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html ''Preposterous Universe'']</ref> |
The book received a favorable reception from the general public,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/067974049X | title = Editorial Reviews | work = Amazon.com }}</ref> but divided the scientific community.<ref name=Stenger>{{cite journal | first = Victor J. | last = Stenger | title = Is the Big Bang a Bust? | url = http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/bang.txt | journal = [[Skeptical Inquirer]] | volume = 16 | issue = 412 | date = Summer 1992 }}</ref><ref name=Penzias>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DD1F39F93BA25755C0A967958260 "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction"], New York Times, June 18, 1991</ref><ref name=Davies>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFD8123CF932A3575AC0A967958260 "Did the Big Bang Happen?"], New York Times, Sep 1, 1991</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Feuerbacher and Scranton|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html#lerner|title=Evidence for the Big Bang}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evolutionpages.com/big_bang_no_myth.htm|title=The Big Bang is not a Myth|author=Macandrew, Alec}}</ref><ref name=Carroll>A critique of the tactics of Eric Lerner mentioning him explicitly by name appears on [[Sean Carroll]]'s [[blog]], [http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html ''Preposterous Universe'']</ref> particular, [[Edward L. Wright]], who teaches cosmology and astrophysics at [[UCLA]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/intro.html | title = Edward L. (Ned) Wright | work = UCLA Astronomy Dept.}}</ref> has criticized the specifics of Lerner's alternative cosmology asserting that his alternative model for [[Hubble's Law]] is dynamically unstable, the [[number density]] of distant [[radio astronomy|radio sources]] falsifies Lerner's explanation for the [[cosmic microwave background]], and that Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to [[stellar nucleosynthesis]] fails because of the small observed abundance of heavier elements.Lerner has directly disputed Wright's critique.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm | title = The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr. Wright is Wrong | accessdate = 2008-07-13}}</ref>. Lerner retorted that Wright had misunderstood plasma theory of the CBR, by not reading the relevant papers on the subject. And ignored the strong observational evidence in his earlier peer reviewed paper on the subject. He also labelled big bang theory as a whole "sloppy". <ref> http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm</ref> |
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In particular, [[Edward L. Wright]], who teaches cosmology and astrophysics at [[UCLA]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/intro.html | title = Edward L. (Ned) Wright | work = UCLA Astronomy Dept.}}</ref> has criticized the specifics of Lerner's alternative cosmology asserting that his alternative model for [[Hubble's Law]] is dynamically unstable, the [[number density]] of distant [[radio astronomy|radio sources]] falsifies Lerner's explanation for the [[cosmic microwave background]], and that Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to [[stellar nucleosynthesis]] fails because of the small observed abundance of heavier elements.Lerner has directly disputed Wright's critique.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm | title = The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr. Wright is Wrong | accessdate = 2008-07-13}}</ref>. Lerner retorted that Wright had misunderstood plasma theory of the CBR, by not reading the relevant papers on the subject. And ignored the strong observational evidence in his earlier peer reviewed paper on the subject. He also labelled big bang theory as a whole "sloppy". <ref> http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm</ref> |
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Revision as of 16:38, 5 January 2010
Eric Lerner | |
---|---|
A man standing at a lectern in front of a blackboard, holding a slide clicker, and gesturing to the unseen audience | |
Born | Eric J. Lerner May 31, 1947[1] |
Nationality | United States of America |
Citizenship | United States of America |
Website | http://www.bigbangneverhappened.org/p7.htm |
Eric J. Lerner is an American popular science writer, independent plasma researcher,[2] and serves as the president of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.[3] He authored the 1991 book The Big Bang Never Happened, which advocates Hannes Alfvén's alternative to the dominant Big Bang theory, Plasma Cosmology.
Professional work
Lerner was born on May 31, 1947 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He received a BA in physics from Columbia University.[4] Following his graduate work in physics at the University of Maryland, College Park,[5] he pursued a career in popular science writing.
In 1984, he began studying plasma phenomena and laboratory fusion devices, performing experimental work on the dense plasma focus. Lerner received funding from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1994 and 2001 to explore whether the dense plasma focus could be an effective ion thruster to propel spacecraft.[6][7] He believes that it can also be used to produce useful aneutronic fusion energy[8][9], in a process he calls "Focus Fusion".
Lerner is a critic of the Big Bang model and advocates an infinitely old Universe.[10] In 2006 he accepted an invitation to be a Visiting Scientist at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, offered at the initiative of fellow Big Bang critic and MOND enthusiast Riccardo Scarpa.[11]
Lerner is also an active general science writer, estimating that he has had about 600 articles published. He has received journalism awards between 1984 and 1993 from the Aviation Space Writers Association.[12]
The Big Bang Never Happened
The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe (1991) is Lerner's book rejecting mainstream Big Bang cosmology and advancing instead a non-standard plasma cosmology originally proposed by Hannes Alfvén in the 1960s.
As an alternative to the Big Bang, Lerner adopted Alfvén's model of plasma cosmology that relied on plasma physics to explain most, if not all, cosmological observations by appealing to electromagnetic forces.[13] Adopting an eternal universe, Lerner's explanation of observed cosmological evolution relied on a proposed a model of thermodynamics attributed in part to the work of Ilya Prigogine under which the universe has no definite age[14] but continually increases in order—in defiance of the second law of thermodynamics.[15] Lerner also criticized modern cosmology as being equivalent to the epicycle after epicycle complexities of Ptolemaic astronomy.[16]
The book received a favorable reception from the general public,[17] but divided the scientific community.[18][19][20][21][22][23] particular, Edward L. Wright, who teaches cosmology and astrophysics at UCLA,[24] has criticized the specifics of Lerner's alternative cosmology asserting that his alternative model for Hubble's Law is dynamically unstable, the number density of distant radio sources falsifies Lerner's explanation for the cosmic microwave background, and that Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to stellar nucleosynthesis fails because of the small observed abundance of heavier elements.Lerner has directly disputed Wright's critique.[25]. Lerner retorted that Wright had misunderstood plasma theory of the CBR, by not reading the relevant papers on the subject. And ignored the strong observational evidence in his earlier peer reviewed paper on the subject. He also labelled big bang theory as a whole "sloppy". [26]
In 2004, New Scientist, published an open letter from Lerner and 30 other scientists, in which they note that:
".. the big bang is not the only framework available for understanding the history of the universe. Plasma cosmology and the steady-state model both hypothesize an evolving universe without beginning or end. These and other alternative approaches can also explain the basic phenomena of the cosmos, including the abundances of light elements, the generation of large-scale structure, the cosmic background radiation, and how the redshift of far-away galaxies increases with distance. They have even predicted new phenomena that were subsequently observed, something the big bang has failed to do."
The letter was co-signed by notables such as astronomer Halton Arp, astrophysicist and professor of astronomy Thomas Gold, professor and astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar, French astrophysicist Jean-Claude Pecker, and plasma physicist Anthony L. Peratt. A copy of the entire statement on a Website has subsequently been endorsed by over 200 other scientists and engineers, and over 250 others. [27]
Activism
While at Columbia, Lerner participated in the 1965 Selma March[28] and helped organize the 1968 Columbia Student Strike.[29]
In the 1970s, Lerner became involved in the National Caucus of Labor Committees, an offshoot of the Columbia University Students for a Democratic Society. Lerner left the National Caucus in 1978, later stating in a lawsuit that he had resisted pressure from the US Labor Party, an organization led by Lyndon LaRouche, to violate election law by channeling profits of an engineering firm to the organization.[30][31]
More recently, Lerner sought civil rights protection for immigrants as a member and spokesman for the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee.[32][33]
References
- ^ http://www.health-freedom.info/pdf/Force%20Free%20Magnetic%20Filaments.pdf
- ^ John Wilford, "Novel Theory Challenges The Big Bang", New York Times, February 28, 1989
- ^ Eric Lerner's biography page at Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.
- ^ Columbia Alumni Directory, 1988 edition, p.211
- ^ Biography at the Space Show, 2006
- ^ Kenneth Chang, "Practical Fusion, or Just a Bubble?", New York Times, Feb. 27, 2007
- ^ JPL Contract 959962, pg 8, and JPL Contract 960283
- ^ Patrick Huyghe, "3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science", Discover Magazine, June 2008
- ^ A Novel Form of Fusion Power, The Economist, Oct. 22, 2009
- ^ Marcus Chown, "Did the Big Bang Really Happen?", New Scientist, 2 July 2005
- ^ ESO Senior Visits in 2006, activities, and ESO Santiago Science Colloquia and Seminars 2006
- ^ Lerner estimates he has had about 600 articles published, in article such as Discover,[1] and Industrial Physicist.[2]
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 14
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", footnote on page 388
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", pages 286-316
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 54
- ^ "Editorial Reviews". Amazon.com.
- ^ Stenger, Victor J. (Summer 1992). "Is the Big Bang a Bust?". Skeptical Inquirer. 16 (412).
- ^ "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction", New York Times, June 18, 1991
- ^ "Did the Big Bang Happen?", New York Times, Sep 1, 1991
- ^ Feuerbacher and Scranton. "Evidence for the Big Bang".
- ^ Macandrew, Alec. "The Big Bang is not a Myth".
- ^ A critique of the tactics of Eric Lerner mentioning him explicitly by name appears on Sean Carroll's blog, Preposterous Universe
- ^ "Edward L. (Ned) Wright". UCLA Astronomy Dept.
- ^ "The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr. Wright is Wrong". Retrieved 2008-07-13.
- ^ http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm
- ^ http://www.cosmologystatement.org/
- ^ Kasra Manoocheri, "Selma Interview: Eric Lerner", Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement web site, Feb. 2007
- ^ "A Memorandum from the Strike Education Committee", Columbia University archives, May 4, 1968. Lists Eric Lerner as one of the committee members.
- ^ King, Dennis (1989). "Chapter 32". Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism. Doubleday. ISBN 0385238800.
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