Robert Park in his weekly enewsletter "What's New" makes the following observation:
|1. BIRTH OF SCIENCE: NEXT FRIDAY, MAY 28, SCIENCE |WILL BE 2,595 YEARS OLD. |On May 28, 585 B.C. the swath of a total solar eclipse passed over the |Greek island of Miletus. The early Greek philosopher, Thales of Miletus, |alone understood what was happening. The world's first recorded |freethinker, Thales rejected all supernatural explanations, and used the |occasion to state the first law of science: every observable effect has a |physical cause. The 585 B.C. eclipse is now taken to mark the birth of |science, and Thales is honored as the father. What troubles would be |spared the world if the education of every child began with causality? We |might, for example, have been spared the absurd cell phone/cancer myth: http://www.bobpark.org/ The last bit on cell phones and cancer is a particular issue for Park because, physically, the energy produce by cell phone is not sufficient to break DNA bonds which could cause cancer. Anyway, if Park is right about the date the of Thales' prediction, then next Friday it will be 2,595 years old. Get your celebration set up and party like its 585 B.C.E.! -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=2746 or send a blank email to leave-2746-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
