Axil Axil <janap...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The difference between then and now is that the words streaming forth from > the “Proceedings of the Royal Society” would now be available to thousands > of the interested as each one rolled out of Franken’s articulate mouth. > That is exactly what happened in 1752. Franklin published an account, and it was all over America and Europe within months. Every scientist knew about it. Several people replicated, and at least one was killed. Joseph Priestley called it a "capital" discovery, "the greatest, perhaps, since the time of Sir Isaac Newton." The word spread nearly as quickly as it did with cold fusion. Replications were as quick, because it takes time to replicate both. Accurate and complete information spread more quickly, because there was no opposition. With cold fusion, there was a great deal of noise, propaganda, misinformation and disinformation. The extra bandwidth was useless because it was overwhelmed with noise. To this day, the Wikipedia article and the Scientific American publish only nonsense and disinformation about cold fusion. The lightning experiments were rather complicated, involving a Leyden jar (capacitor) and so on. > Yes some would die, but in that small price, many would see the results of > Franklins experiment played out with their own eyes and by their own hands > before the sun had set on that day. > That would not be possible. It took preparation, and then you had to wait for the right kind of weather. Several people did it wrong and reported no results. As I said, at least one person did die. I see no evidence that the slow speed of communication or the high cost of printing slowed down the propagation speed for this or the other important 18th and 19th century discoveries such as electromagnetism by Oersted, nitrous oxide, hot air and hydrogen balloons, or Davy's safety lamp for miners (1815). The lamp was in use by miners all over Europe and America within months. This was before the telegraph. For more on this era, see the book "The Age of Wonder" by R. Holmes. Overall, I would say the scientific community back then did a better and swifter job communicating and replicating discoveries than they did replicating cold fusion after 1989. Many of the experiments back then were as difficult for them to replicate as cold fusion was in 1989. I think they were better scientists. Academic politics were as bad as they are today, but dispute over funding were not as destructive. I think cold fusion has mainly been held by inept fools such as Lindley, political animals such as Park, and by funding disputes. Interesting footnote: King George III was a pretty good scientist in his own right. He got involved quickly and made some claims that conflicted with Franklin's, about the best shape and size of a lightning rod. People made fun of the dispute. Much later -- I think in the 20th century -- experts determined that the King was right and Franklin was wrong. - Jed
