On Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 9:51 AM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> wrote:
> Andre Blum <[email protected]> wrote: > > First: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" and all that. >> > > I hate that aphorism! I really hate it. Here is what Melich and I wrote > about it, in response to the 2004 DoE reviewer #1: > > > Claim 1.5. “As many have said, extraordinary results require extraordinary > proof. Such proof is lacking.” > > This is not a principle of science. It was coined by Carl Sagan for the > 1980 “Cosmos” television series. Conventional scientific standards dictate > that extraordinary claims are best supported with ordinary evidence from > off-the-shelf instruments and standard techniques. All mainstream cold > fusion papers present this kind of evidence. > > Sagan's statement clearly places him in the pre-Enlightenment mode of natural science: A priest.
