"So you believe is astronomy do you?"

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Ah, homeopathy! I once wrote a little treatise on that in Annals of Improbable Research. A preprint can be found here: http://www.cs.rug.nl/~michael/qthair.pdf

It has been translated to Spanish and Czech, and has even be cited in the scientific literature. Must be true then

[George Jones]

Ah, homeopathy! I once wrote a little treatise on that in Annals of Improbable Research. A preprint can be found here: http://www.cs.rug.nl/~michael/qthair.pdf

It has been translated to Spanish and Czech, and has even be cited in the scientific literature. Must be true then

Nice.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

For fun, let's take the title of thread literally, "So you believe is astronomy do you?"

Now, focus on a particular aspect of astronomy, Newton's law of gravity. Pretend that Newton's law of gravity is true (actually, it isn't). What would it take to prove Newton's law of gravity true, so that no belief is required?

Full disclosure: I'm a physicist.

Proving a scientific law true is impossible, because the truth is unknowable. All we can do is propose theories that explain the phenomena observed, and test these theories. Newton's law of gravity is flawed, as Newton himself knew, because it cannot explain the precession of the orbit of Mercury. Einstein's general relativity can explain it. For a long time, Newton's law of gravity was the best available. Currently it is Einstein's law. Given dark matter and dark energy (reminds me of the "ether"), we might be in for a paradigm shift sooner or later.

There is no need for belief in science, unless in that everyday sense of "I believe the evidence is most in favour of theory X, not Y"

Doubt is actually what keeps science ticking, not belief. Sometimes scientists forget that. They are only human, after all

[George Jones]

Proving a scientific law true is impossible,

Yes. I chose Newton's law of gravity because it's easy to explicitly exhibit this impossibility.

[pajr777]

Ah, homeopathy! I once wrote a little treatise on that in Annals of Improbable Research. A preprint can be found here: http://www.cs.rug.nl/~michael/qthair.pdf

It has been translated to Spanish and Czech, and has even be cited in the scientific literature. Must be true then

Michael that is an astounding and profound piece of work! I am keeping my own wave-function in a sealed and locked box from now on, ne'er to be observed by man nor beast!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Yes. I chose Newton's law of gravity because it's easy to explicitly exhibit this impossibility.

Same holds true for any scientific law.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Michael that is an astounding and profound piece of work! I am keeping my own wave-function in a sealed and locked box from now on, ne'er to be observed by man nor beast!

Ah, but aren't you observing yourself? Better knock yourself unconscious, lest your wave-function collapses!

[pajr777]

Hang on, I'm going to consult a cat specialist

[sanmatt]

Theres an excellent article on homeopathy in this months The Biologist journal mag.

[George Jones]

Yes. I chose Newton's law of gravity because it's easy to explicitly exhibit this impossibility.

Same holds true for any scientific law.

By "easy to explicitly exhibit", I meant "easy to explicitly exhibit in this thread"

For may theories of physics, I don't think that this is true, because of the technical background to understand quantitative predictions of other theories.

[Qualia]

Doubt is actually what keeps science ticking...

Yes, exactly.

Even amongst the 'scientists', there are the dogmatist and ideologues: Scientism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is continual doubt, continual questioning that broadens and deepens our knowledge and mind.

[David JM]

Gravity-see the 'Be Careful What You Wish For' thread. In 'O' level physics the teacher asked if gravity existed or could the sun be the 'nucleus' of the solar system and the planets 'electrons'. He was a bloke that could make you think. Our biology teacher could also make you think, usually rude thoughts about her. Our chemistry teacher made you think too, usually 'how far back do I need to stand to be safe?'

Homeopathy: no matter how much you dilute the truth some mug will believe in it.