Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Peez · 03-18-2002, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Oolon:
Actually, Kelvin's estimate surprises me. I thought he'd suggested a lot less, and hence had 'ruled out' evolution more clearly.

That was it! Something like:

Quote:

It was Lord Kelvin who stated that until we can measure something, we don't know what we are talking about. This was the same Lord Kelvin who estimated the age of the earth to be about 100 million years, which just goes to show that even when you can measure something, you may still not know what you are talking about.

Not very fair to Kelvin, since he did not (at that time) have the benefit of our knowledge.

Thanks, Oolon.

Peez

KeithHarwood · 03-18-2002, 04:54 PM

Yes, Kelvin did calculate 10My for the lifetime of the sun, the number is still called the Kelvin contraction time and the calculation is still valid. However, he also recognised that geology showed the earth was much older than that and the sun was shining all along. He therefore deduced that gravitational contraction was not the source of the sun's energy and he and others went looking for it. Eventually, they found it. This is called Good Science.

BTW there is supposed to be a letter to the Times back in the days when that was the quick publication avenue for scientists, in which Eddington says that if Kelvin does not think the centre of the sun is hot enough for nuclear fusion then he should go to a hotter place.

Valentine Pontifex · 03-19-2002, 01:01 PM

Lord Kelvin also gave these two jewels:

"Radio has no future."

"X rays will prove to be a hoax."

Funny how his opinion "proves" that the Earth is not billions of years old but does not prove X rays to be false. ;-)

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03-18-2002, 04:54 PM	#12
KeithHarwood Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Baulkham Hills, New South Wales,Australia Posts: 944	Yes, Kelvin did calculate 10My for the lifetime of the sun, the number is still called the Kelvin contraction time and the calculation is still valid. However, he also recognised that geology showed the earth was much older than that and the sun was shining all along. He therefore deduced that gravitational contraction was not the source of the sun's energy and he and others went looking for it. Eventually, they found it. This is called Good Science. BTW there is supposed to be a letter to the Times back in the days when that was the quick publication avenue for scientists, in which Eddington says that if Kelvin does not think the centre of the sun is hot enough for nuclear fusion then he should go to a hotter place.

03-19-2002, 01:01 PM	#13
Valentine Pontifex Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy Posts: 3,092	Lord Kelvin also gave these two jewels: "Radio has no future." "X rays will prove to be a hoax." Funny how his opinion "proves" that the Earth is not billions of years old but does not prove X rays to be false. ;-)

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