Mike Palij writes: >It's an interesting story but, of course, Deutsche Physik fell out of >favour even with the Nazis, Werner Heisenberg (yes, the uncertainty >Heisenberg, not the "Breaking Bad" Heisenberg) was a proponent >of Einstein's theory (as well as being well connected to high ranking >Nazi Heinrich Himmler) and, ironically, (quoting from the Wikipedia entry:)
Mike writes that Heisenberg was "well connected to high ranking Nazi Heinrich Himmler". Well, it depends on what one means by "well connected". Heisenberg's grandfather had belonged to a hiking club of Bavarian Gymnasium (grammar school) rectors, and one of the members of this group was Himmler's father. Heisenberg's mother had become acquainted through her father with Heinrich Himmler's mother. And that's the "connection". (David C. Cassidy, *Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg*, 1991, pp. 385-386) None of this indicates any direct connection of Heisenberg to Himmler, and certainly not that he was "well connected". The supposed "connection" arises in relation to a long episode beginning in 1937 at time when Heisenberg was due to succeed Arnold Sommerfeld in the chair of physics at Munich. The SS weekly Das Schwarze Korps launched a series of vicious attacks on Heisenberg, the first by the Nazi physicist Johannes Stark in which Heisenberg was designated a "White Jew" for his scientific views and the scientists he associated with. The long series of attacks put him in a precarious position. As a last resort Heisenberg gambled on a letter to Himmler requesting that either Stark's attacks be disapproved or he would resign. He had no direct channels to Himmler, and feared that a letter sent through normal channels would probably never have arrived. This is where his mother's chance acquaintanceship with Himmler's mother comes in, as his mother agreed to visit Himmler's mother and request she pass the letter directly to Himmler. (Cassidy, 1991, pp. 379-396) Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London [email protected] http://www.esterson.org -------------------------------------------------------- [tips] Conservapedia and the Deutsche Physik: When Ideology Drives Science Mike Palij Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:36:27 -0700 Robert Park, professor of physics at the University of Maryland, author of the book "Voodoo Science", and editor of the weekly enewsletter "What's New", had the following entry in the last issue of What's New: |2. CONSERVAPEDIA: OMINOUS ECHOES OF DEUTSCHE PHYSIK. |Last week I commented about Conservapedia, which was created to counter |the "liberal bias of Wikipedia." As an example, I quoted from an item about |relativity and Einstein. Physicist Don Langenberg, Chancellor Emeritus of |the University of Maryland, who happened to be reading "The German Genius" |by Peter Watson (Harper, 2010), remarked that the Conservapedia position |quite accurately echoes a view expressed in May 1924 by Nobel physics |laureates, Philipp Lenard and Johannes Stark in which they compared Hitler |with the giants of science. This marked the emergence of "Deutsche Physik," |which eschewed relativity and quantum theory, arguing that they were too |theoretical, too abstract, and "threatened to undermine intuitive |mechanical models of the world." Langenberg wonders if it’s possible that |our rabid right might be pushing us toward revisiting the tragic events of |the early 20th century. Yes, folks, Wikipedia is a liberal conspiracy (standard disclaimers apply) and the only way to counter the "liberal worldview" is by promoting the "conservative worldview" even if it means changing the nature of physics. For those unfamiliar with "Deutsche Physik", which was an ideologically driven interpretation of physics and which was developed in opposition to the "Jewish Science" of people like Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity. For more on Deutsche Physik or Aryan Physics, see the Wikipedia entry (standard disclaimers apply plus watch out for the liberal bias): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik It's an interesting story but, of course, Deutsche Physik fell out of favor even with the Nazis, Werner Heisenberg (yes, the uncertainty Heisenberg, not the "Breaking Bad" Heisenberg) was a proponent of Einstein's theory (as well as being well connected to high ranking Nazi Heinrich Himmler) and, ironically, (quoting from the Wikipedia entry:) |Heisenberg would later employ his "Jewish physics," in the German |project to develop nuclear fission for the purposes of nuclear weapons |or nuclear energy use. See Noam Chomsky's comments at the end of the entry comparing Deutsch Physik to postmodernism. For a fair and balanced presentation, that is, not all loonies (not the Canadian dollar) are in the right wing, it is useful to remember that Lysenkoism was another form of ideologically driven science that also ultimately failed when it attempted to make the scientific enterprise follow ideological dogma; see the Wikipedia entry on Lysenkoism (yada-yada): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism To get some sense of the effects of Lysenkoism, here's a quote from the Wikipedia entry: |In 1948, genetics was officially declared "a bourgeois pseudoscience"[5]; |all geneticists were fired from work (some were also arrested), and all |genetic research was discontinued. Nikita Khrushchev, who claimed to |be an expert in agricultural science, also valued Lysenko as a great scientist, |and the taboo on genetics continued (but all geneticists were released |or rehabilitated posthumously). The ban was only waived in the mid 1960s. | |Thus, Lysenkoism caused serious, long-term harm to Soviet biology. |It represented a serious failure of the early Soviet leadership to find real |solutions to agricultural problems, throwing their support for a charlatan — |at the expense of many human lives. Lysenkoism also spread to China, |where it continued long after it was eventually denounced by the Soviets. And, of course, there is creation science; see the Wikipedia entry (yada-yada): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science All of these can be used as examples of ideologically driven attempt to corrupt the scientific enterprise and to substitute ideological assumptions and beliefs for scientific ones. -Mike Palij New York University --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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