Originally posted by johnlear
If a Scientist/Astronomer wants to belong to the club, hold on to tenure, keep a chair, feed himself and his family he needs to toe the party line.
And the party line is: whatever the National Science Foundation says it is. Period. Some haven't and they have paid with their reputations and
careers. And, no, if you are interested you will have to do your own research but you can start with Hansen, Lowell, Pickering and Firsoff.
I really want to take issue with this.
Are you making this rubbish up as you go along?
Maybe I have looked into the wrong Hansen, Lowell, Pickering and Firsoff.
Peter Andreas Hansen 1795 - 1874
He twice received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and was awarded the Copley Medal for correcting earlier measurements by others on
the distance to the sun, amongst many other awards.
Percival Lowell 1855 - 1916
He studied Mars, specifically the canals and thought that these were not natural formations, leading to the idea that Mars may have life. Spent the
last few years of his life searching for a planet beyond Neptune. Founded the Lowell Observatory.
William Pickering 1910 - 2004
Worked for JPL for most of his life and worked extensively on the Mariner probes. Retired from JPL aged 66 in 1976. Received numerous awards and
accolades during and after his career.
Axel Firsoff 1910 - 1981
Amateur astronomer from Sweden who moved to Glastonbury, UK. Worked for the British Olympic Ski Team in the 1950's. Wrote books about ET life and
thought the craters on the moon were volcanic.
If I have used the wrong Hansen, Lowell, Pickering and Firsoff, maybe you should be more exact when dishing out names of astronomers. From what I can
tell, none (ZERO) of these paid with their reputation or career for having unusual views or having challenged what was beleived to be true at the
time. As for Axel Firsoff, he was never a 'proper' astronomer, just an enthusiastic amateur, so had no reputation to tarnish.
Maybe I have this all wrong. I don't think so. I think you do.