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Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Newman's J 'Energy Machine'

he federal court of appeals deci- Winter 1986-87, pp. 114-116). sion on Joseph W. Newman's That court, as a result, ruled that T"energy generation system" has Newman's machine was unpatentable. been out for some time, but a reading Newman's lawyers appealed. of the full text reveals how decisive In a wide-ranging ruling (Newman was the ruling against the maverick v. Quigg, No. 88-1312, July 5, 1989), inventor. the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals You may recall that Newman is the affirmed the district court's ruling. It Lucedale, Mississippi, inventor who also said the district court did not err claimed to have made a device with in rejecting the special master's recom- higher energy output than input. He mendation that the patent be issued went on many national talk-shows and instead ordering the NBS study, publicizing the "Newman energy "which did not verify results claimed machine." He said it would solve the by the inventor." And it said the world's energy problems and replace inventor "had waived any right to now all current forms of energy produc- challenge alleged defects in test tion. His claims garnered more pub- protocol." licity than any other "perpetual In his appeal, Newman had argued motion" claim in recent memory. He that the NBS evaluation was defective had testimonials from some scientists because all tests were conducted with and even had managed to get an the device grounded. He stated that endorsement by a former commis- it was essential that his device not be sioner of the U.S. Patent Office who grounded during operation. The court was appointed a Special Master by a of appeals would have none of it. (The federal court. district court had heard these argu- Nevertheless a federal district ments as well; it had held that the NBS court for the District of Columbia test procedures were appropriate, and insisted that the National Bureau of their results "dispositive.") Standards make a detailed examina- "We need not decide whether the tion of the machine and determine NBS tests were conducted by a flawed whether it in fact produced more procedure, for any flaw could have energy than it took in. The NBS study been, and was not, corrected by Mr. concluded that it did not: "At all Newman at the time of the tests," conditions tested, the input power states the court of appeal's ruling. ". exceeded the output power. . . ." (51, . . Mr. Newman does not dispute

226 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 that he had a copy of the test protocol Newman then argued that the court before testing began. The record gave undue weight to the NBS tests shows no communication or objection. and failed to give overriding weight The commissioner further points out to testimonials and affidavits support- that the patent specification does not ing the claimed increase in energy mention the need to avoid grounding output. the device. "The court described the evidence "We conclude that Mr. Newman on Newman's behalf as 'largely qual- had a duty to raise objection, before itative rather than quantified by or during testing, to any defects in the measured data,' while 'credit[ing] in test protocol.... He had a clear chance full the meticulously thorough and to obtain a definitive test, and to the well-documented testing done by extent that he did not take it, he can NBS.' . . . The court remarked that not now impeach the results that were at best Mr. Newman's evidence conducted by procedures of which he showed prolonged operation on dry had advanced knowledge. If there cell batteries, but that 'such a device were flaws in the NBS protocol, we is not the one for which Newman do not now give controlling weight to seeks a patent.' We discern no error objections that could have been raised in the district court's analysis, and at a time when any errors could have conclude that the court did not clearly readily been corrected." err in giving controlling weight to the The appeals court notes that "the NBS report and in concluding that the district court, on trial of the merits, utility claimed for Newman's device held Mr. Newman's invention unpat- had not been demonstrated." entable under 35 U.S.C. 101 because The appeals court also upheld the 'Newman's device lacks utility (in that district court's argument that New- it does not operate to produce what man had failed to explain how to he claims it does).' " It notes that achieve the claimed results. "While it

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Spring 1990 227 is not a requirement of patentability ameliorate fear and uncertainty. that an inventor correctly set forth, " was simply one of the or even know, how or why the ways I coped with the fear I felt after invention works, neither is the patent my husband almost died in the assas- applicant relieved of the requirement sination attempt [on March 30,1981]." of teaching how to achieve the claimed She was haunted by concerns about result, even if the theory of operation the "so-called 20-year death cycle for is not correctly explained or even American presidents." (For more than understood.... The district court held a century, every president elected, or that Mr. Newman's claimed device and re-elected, in a year ending in zero had method do not produce the claimed died in office.) Night after night she result, following the teachings of the agonized over the president's safety. specification. We affirm that conclu- "When you're as frightened as I was, sion. . . . you reach out for help and comfort "The decision of the district court in any direction you can." that the claimed invention is unpat- The most poignant and, in seeing entable because it fails to comply with its effects on her, most despicable 35 U.S.C. 101 for lack of utility, and incident in the astrology section of the with 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, book reveals how she was made to feel for lack of enablement, is affirmed." she could have prevented the 1981 The court, in so affirming, said each shooting of , if only she party shall bear its own costs. New- had been attuned to the astrological man has since announced that he will bad vibes. Here is a view of believers take his case to the U.S. Supreme in astrology playing on the fears of Court. a scared and vulnerable person. Television producer Merv Griffin, —Kendrick Frazier an old friend from ' Hollywood days, called her one after- noon and told her of , a San Francisco astrologer. She had met Astrology in Quigley once before and had had several calls from her during the 1980 the White House: presidential campaign, where Quigley 's View volunteered her advice about "good" and "bad" times for Mr. Reagan. "I remember my reaction as if it ancy Reagan's book were yesterday to what Merv now (Random House, 1989) gives told me on the phone. He had talked N for the first time in her own to Joan, who had said she could have words her version of the international warned me about March 30. Accord- controversy set off in 1988 over her ing to Merv, Joan had said: 'The use of astrology in the White House President should have stayed home. (SI, Fall 1988). One can almost feel I could see from my charts that this sympathy for the former First Lady was going to be a dangerous day for as she recounts her concern about her him.' husband's safety. With a sophistica- " 'Oh my God,' I remember telling tion about such matters obviously no Merv. 7 could have stopped it!' I hung more advanced than that of millions up the phone, picked it up again and of other Americans, she tells how she called Joan." Quigley repeated her turned to astrology as a way to claim that she could see the day the

228 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 shooting happened was a very bad day WALL STREETS NOSEDIVE for him. (Presumably this was an Will History Repeat Itself? after-the-fact "insight.") "Joan was a good listener, and she responded with the warmth and compassion 1 needed." Nancy Thus started their relationship. Reagan's Quigley soon suggested Mrs. Reagan let her know when the president planned to travel. She would then call 'My and tell her if those were bad or good days. "Well, I thought, what's the Turn' harm in that? And so, once or twice a month I would talk with Joan. . . . On Astrology I would have Ronnie's schedule in On Don Regan On Raisa front of me, and what I wanted to On Her Kids know was very simple: were specific dates safe or dangerous?" Once Quigley got back to her with the information, Mrs. Reagan would, if necessary, call , who Nancy Reagan's story about her use of was in charge of the president's astrology appears in her book My Turn and schedule, and later , the in Newsweek excerpts. president's chief of staff. "Sometimes a small change was made. . . . While She says her relationship with astrology was a factor in determining Quigley "began as a crutch," but Ronnie's schedule, it was never the "within a year or two, it had become only one, and no political decision was a habit," and she didn't see the need ever made based on it." to change, "because while I was never Mrs. Reagan says she realized that certain that Joan's astrological advice "if this ever came out, it could be was helping to protect Ronnie, the fact embarrassing to Ronnie—although I is that nothing like March 30 ever never imagined just how embarrass- happened again." ing." Later, when Donald Regan Mrs. Reagan does not disclose how disclosed these practices in his book, much she paid Quigley. However CBS "it became the biggest story in town. reported that Mrs. Reagan paid Qui- I felt a terrible cold rush to the heart gley $3,000 a month, which amounts and a sinking feeling in my stomach. to $36,000 a year. She realized an I felt shocked and humiliated. ... I astrologer shouldn't be sent checks had always considered it as a private from the First Lady, "so I asked a project, something I did to hedge our friend back in California to pay Joan bets, to try to keep Ronnie from and I reimbursed her each month." getting shot again—and to keep me In an appearance on the "Tonight" from going mad with worry." show (in which Johnny Carson, who In the midst of the furor, "what had earlier got considerable joke I felt worst about was Ronnie, and I mileage out of the astrology affair, this apologized to him. 'I feel terrible about time politely avoided such jabs), Mrs. this. I've put you in an awful position,' Reagan said she still felt she had done I said. 'No honey,' he kept saying. 'It's nothing wrong, but was sorry for the all right. I could see what you were embarrassment she had caused the going through. It's all right." president.

Spring 1990 22^ Political observers were no kinder Fraknoi, of the Astronomical Society to Nancy Reagan over the explana- of the Pacific, pointed to the impor- tions in her book than they were about tance of scientific literacy and the way the original disclosures about astrol- that publication of pseudoscience ogy in the White House (SI, Fall 1988, "tends to undermine the efforts of pp. 11-12). scientists and educators to improve New York Times columnist William the public understanding of science." Safire lambasted her over the revel- The wording suggested was: "The ation that she had kept her astrological following astrological forecasts should watch over the president's schedule be read for entertainment value only. secret from her husband: "If a pres- Such predictions have no reliable basis ident decides to hire a witch doctor in scientific fact." to help his planning by reading the The appeal caused considerable entrails of chickens or if he uses a interest and controversy (SI, Spring divining rod to discover leaks or 1985, pp. 194-196). But a few news- prefers Tarot cards to CIA evalua- papers began running the suggested tions, that's the judgment we have disclaimer, or a similar one, and the elected. number continues to grow. The latest "But if the timing of his movements major addition to the roster is the St. and selection of his appearances are Louis Post-Dispatch. Its disclaimer says determined by his fearful wife's simply, "Note: Horoscopes have no superstition without his knowledge, basis in scientific fact and should be that abuse of the first lady's authority read for entertainment, not guidance." cannot be dismissed as harmless or In a recent talk to a seminar of the cute." Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, Cornell astronomer —Kendrick Frazier and educator (and CSICOP Fellow) Carl Sagan called astrology "bunk" and strongly criticized newspapers for carrying horoscope columns. Astrol- Twenty-Eight Papers ogy "shares with racism and sexism the idea that you can divide the human Use Astrology community into a few slots and you Disclaimer can decide about people by knowing which of the 12 slots they happen to fit into," Sagan said. ive years ago, at a news confer- "Pick up a newspaper and you can ence in San Francisco and in a immediately tell—We're for hokum. F followup letter to all daily news- We're in favor of bunk. It's a very bad papers in the United States, the sign. I wouldn't mind so much if Committee for the Scientific Investi- opposite every astrology column there gation of Claims of the Paranormal were a daily debunking-pseudoscience (CSICOP) proposed that newspapers column." add a disclaimer to their astrology Here is a list of newspapers known columns. to be publishing a disclaimer with their CSICOP Chairman Paul Kurtz astrology columns, as of January 1990: called on newspapers to warn readers that neither astrology nor the advice Montgomery Advertiser (Ala.) published in horoscope columns has Alabama Journal (Ala.) scientific validity. Kurtz and Andrew Arizona Daily Star (Ariz.)

230 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 Sun City Daily News (Ariz.) San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) Consulting the Wilmington News Journal (Del.) • Wrong Stars St. Petersburg Times (Fla.) Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Ga.) Honolulu Advertiser (Hawaii) ^\n amusing, and illuminating, Charleston Times Courier (111.) L^^ item about a newspaper's hand- Mattoon Journal Gazette (III.) # \ ling of a logistics problem it had Indianapolis Star (Ind.) with its astrology column was Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (La.) revealed recently by the newspaper Baton Rouge State Times (La.) itself. Shreveport Journal (La.) In his "My Turn" column, F. G. Adrian Telegram (Mich.) Eaton, managing editor of the Adrian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Mo.) Michigan, Daily Telegraph, wrote Battle Creek Enquirer (Mich.) about the occasional problems caused Asbury Park Press (N.J.) when syndicated materials don't Auburn Citizen (N.Y.) arrive on time. With some popular Hillsboro Press Gazette (Ohio) comics, they were able to substitute Altoona Mirror (Pa.) some strips scheduled for the follow- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pa.) ing week. Another time they had to Memphis Commercial Appeal (Tenn.) pirate some bridge columns from old Austin American Statesman (Tex.) papers. That brings Eaton to the Orange Leader (Tex.) astrology column: Milwaukee Journal (Wis.) "Probably the most notorious Toronto Globe & Mail (Canada) example of this kind of piracy occurred a couple of years ago too. (I've never The exact wording of a disclaimer told this story publicly before.) It has never been the important issue. involved the AstroGraph. Indeed, as reader Thomas D. Fuller "We didn't have AstroGraph to use points out in a letter to the editor in for a period of several weeks. The copy this issue, a Virginia regional maga- for this feature comes to us by satellite zine uses a witty disclaimer that pokes and is beamed directly into our com- fun at both itself and its horoscope puter. But for a while for some reason column. In doing so, it shows that the beam wasn't beaming right. We what's going on is only entertainment. lost about a month's worth. "The people from the composing room came to me wondering what they should put on these pages, since they had no copy. What we did have, however, were copies of astrology columns from months before. Reason- ing that it is all a bunch of claptrap anyway, we changed the dates and re- sorted the months (signs) and re-ran those columns. "Anyone who actually looked to the AstroGraph for important life deci- sions would have been conferring with the wrong stars. But since the stars don't actually affect daily life on

Spring 1990 231 earth, we didn't figure we had done According to a poll carried out to anybody any harm." • accompany the article in L'Express, a sizable proportion of the population believes in paranormal phenomena of one kind or another, including astrol- ogy, fortune-telling, witchcraft, France Possessed sorcery and telepathy. By the Occult Education has nothing to do with it. French schools still teach in the and Irrational Cartesian tradition, with heavy emphasis on math, geometry, logic, and science. But the poll of more than he French have long thought of 1,500 people indicated that those with themselves as rationalists deeply a higher scientific qualification were Timbued with the spirit of the more likely to believe in the paran- seventeenth-century philosopher ormal than those with basic primary Rene Descartes, who exalted the mind schooling—46 percent compared with and vowed never to accept any idea 41 percent. unless he had first subjected it to And belief in the paranormal and rigorous critical analysis. astrology is highest among young But the Cartesian ideal is taking a people aged 18 to 24, the poll indicated. buffeting as, according to sociologists, According to the magazine the French turn their backs on tra- L'Evenement de ]eudi, the fascination ditional religion, rationalist ideologies with the occult is most widespread such as Marxism, and belief in scien- among students, senior management, tific progress. professors, and especially school The rise of the occult and the teachers. The most skeptical, it said, irrational has been the cover story on were agricultural workers, techni- two of the country's national news cians, and skilled workers. The magazines. Greens, members of the fast-growing environmental movement, are, for some reason, along with the far-right Apres moi,i National Front, most likely to believe in the paranormal, the magazine said. While France has fewer than 36,000 Roman Catholic clergy, there are more than 40,000 professional astrologers who declare their income to tax authorities—which says nothing of the undoubtedly far greater number of moonstruck star- gazers, faith healers, mediums, necro- mancers, and fortune tellers of every imaginable stripe who choose not to declare their income. It might come as no surprise to some of the whackier regions of the U.S. West Coast or the zanier ele- ments in the Soviet Union, which has been in the grip of hysteria about

232 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 visiting spacemen, but the reality is Quack medicine flourishes, along that France appears to be taking its with the sale of costly "magnetic" and cue from Nostradamus rather than "galvanic" machines that claim to ward Descartes these days. off aches and pains, remove excess Large and established companies poundage, restore sagging flesh, and turn to graphologists, birth-date guarantee untroubled sleep. interpreters, and astrologers before "Instinctotherapy," which follow- hiring job candidates. A leading com- ers claim can cure everything from puter company only hires people after toothaches to AIDS, has a lively a tarot-card reading. A big insurance following despite the arrest of its group uses a swinging pendulum to leading guru, Guy-Claude Burger, a judge whether a candidate is honest. former musician, on a charge of Stores selling the paraphernalia of illegally practicing medicine. Instinc- the occult, from Ouija boards to tarot totherapy consists of eating as much cards, have sprung up even in some as you like of whatever it is you fancy of the poshest shopping malls. Sor- providing it is uncooked. cerers advertise in newspapers prom- An author named Rika Zarai has ising to recover a lost love or find a become both rich and a media star new one. One firm of occult practi- with her claims to restore faded sex tioners, called Divinitel, claims annual lives and to cure AIDS and just about revenues of five million francs for everything else with special diets and services that include removing spells combinations of herbs. Miss Zarai sold and bringing back lost romance. two million copies of a book called My Books about the occult are among Natural Medicine. the best of best-sellers. The Predictions of Nostradamus alone has sold more —Barry James than 1.3 million copies. More than 300 publishers specialize in books on the Barry James is a reporter for the occult, and there are hundreds of International Herald Tribune, where specialty stores to sell the books. this article originally appeared. Reprinted Magazines specializing in horoscopes, with permission. fortune telling, and the occult sell a total of more than 300,000 copies. The French do not even have to leave home to get their fortunes told. Minitel, the state-owned videotex Latin-American system that services millions of homes, offers horoscopes, tarot-card • Skeptics Conference readings, astrological predictions, and the like, provided by private message services that operate on the system. he first Latin-American skeptics Television and radio broadcasts also conference convened in Mexico are cluttered with programs about City on November 10 and 11, horoscopes and astrology. T 1989, cosponsored by the Mexican Magic gewgaws find a ready Society for Skeptical Research (Socie- market. A well-known actress, dad Mexican para la Investigacion Danielle Gilbert, was briefly jailed Esceptica, SOMIE) and the Committee recently for promoting the sale of for the Scientific Investigation of 450,000 purportedly magic "Egyptian" Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). rings. More than 300 people attended ses-

Spring 1990 233 sions at the University of Mexico and 1989. The Mexican skeptics have been the Holiday Inn in Mexico City. active over the years, questioning The conference focused on the psychic claims and pseudoscience on growing influence of "magical think- both national and local television and ing" and the need to develop public radio and in print, as well as spon- appreciation of the scientific method. soring such projects as scientific The keynote address was delivered by research into "extra-occular visual Mario Bunge, a native of Argentina perception," a widely promoted belief and now professor of philosophy at in Mexico, and an investigation of the McGill University and one of Canada's magical healing powers of pepesco- most distinguished philosophers. huibe, a tree bark that is claimed to Bunge deplored the growth of pseudo- cure almost everything. science and the vulgarization of SOMIE now has more than 160 modern culture. He emphasized the members. Its chairman is Mario importance of developing skepticism Mendez-Acosta, an engineer and and critical thinking in educational journalist. Victor Vazquez, professor institutions. of psychology at the University of Other speakers were from the Mexico, is vice-chairman. Other executive council of CSICOP, includ- members of the executive committee ing Ray Hyman of the University of are Carlos Calderon, a stage magician Oregon; James Alcock, York Univer- who goes under the name of "Aba- sity, Toronto; James Randi, the well- Daba"; Victor Velarde, a medical known magician; Barry Karr, execu- doctor; Maurico-Jose Schwarz, a tive director of CSICOP, and myself. newspaper columnist; and UFO Several psychologists from the Uni- investigator Hector Chavarria. versity of Mexico, and the influential SOMIE has launched a new journal, journalists Luis Gonzalez de Alba and El Investigador Esceptico, which will be Raoul Priepo also participated. made available throughout Latin CSICOP's executive council America for Spanish-speaking read- members were especially impressed by ers. We were impressed by their the fortitude of the students and ambitious plans for the future. faculty of the University of Mexico. The generous hospitality of the Because of strikes and demonstrations SOMIE group was especially appre- in Mexico City on the opening day of ciated by those who attended the the conference, our bus from the hotel conference from the United States, to the university's psychology depart- Canada, and Central and South Amer- ment was delayed two hours; yet the ican countries. Given the widespread auditorium was packed with eager body of uncorroborated and unveri- attendees who sat patiently waiting fied claims of the paranormal in for us and then through four hours Mexico and throughout Latin Amer- of our discussions without a break. ican, SOMIE can play an important There was extensive press cover- role in providing some balanced age of the conference. All of the major appreciation for the fruits of scientific newspapers—El National, La Jornada, inquiry. Excelsior, etc.—and TV and radio stations covered the sessions. —Paul Kurtz Although a skeptics group has been informally in operation in Mexico for Paul Kurtz is chairman of CSICOP and almost a decade, SOMIE was not a professor of philosophy at SUNY- officially established until August Buffalo.

234 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 Clinique de Psychiatrie Biologique in European Conference France, reported on French research Examines Fringe in homeopathy. At the end of 1985, Aulas said, Georgina Dufoix, then J Science and Medicine Minister of Social Affairs, attempted to establish a foundation for the examination of alternative medical Following is a brief overview of the Second methods. The foundation was aban- European CSICOP Conference, held at doned in 1986, however, by Dufoix's Bad Tolz, near Munich, West Germany, successor, Michele Barzach. The only from May 4 to 7, 1989. The hosts were clinical research on homeopathy com- the West German Society for the Scientific pleted in France was performed by Investigation of Para-Science (GWUP). Grecho, a research team formed for Speakers included European experts on this purpose. Though they proposed topics of particular importance in Europe, three separate studies, they completed and several members of the Executive only one—on homeopathy and the Council of the Committee for the Scientific resumption of digestion after abdom- Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal inal surgery. The results of this study (CSICOP). Most of the talks were were negative. Aulas stressed that simultaneously translated into English, further scientific evaluation of alter- German, and Spanish. Our thanks for native medical treatments, including this summary to Mark Plummer, former homeopathy, whose effectiveness has executive director of CSICOP, and yet to be demonstrated, is ethically Amardeo Sarma, secretary of the host necessary. He claimed that the pos- organization. sibility of such evaluation has been demonstrated by the Grecho exper- hree sessions (1, 2, and 4) of the iment, which was done under strictly 1989 CSICOP conference in Bad controlled conditions and in complete Tolz dealt with fringe medicine. independence of homeopathy labora- T tories. The term fringe implies that such techniques are not a part of main- Andreas Gertler, of the Institute of stream Western medical practice but Forensic Medicine in East Berlin, gave leaves open the possibility that any of a paper on the situation of alternative these therapies may be totally inef- medical practices in East Germany. fective, somewhat helpful, or quite Many patients there, said Gertler, are helpful in healing. Paul Knipschild, an not content with orthodox medical epidemiologist at the University of practice, feeling that doctors should Limberg in the Netherlands, said that use fewer pills and less machinery and evidence from clinical research must spend more time with the patient. In be used to evaluate alternative treat- East Germany, a law prevents non- ments. Clinical epidemiology, the graduated physicians from practicing methodology of performing and eva- any kind of professional medicine, but luating such research, is still evolving, Gertler said the M.D.s themselves use but Knipschild said that his general nonconventional techniques, such as impression from evaluating such tech- acupuncture, neural therapy, and niques as acupuncture and homeo- cancer treatments that include mistle- pathy, as well as certain dietary sup- toe extracts, special diets, and teas, and plements, is that the better-performed homeopathy. Though acupuncture studies show less effectiveness. has been tested by centuries of use Jean-Jaques Aulas, of the Unite in China, Gertler pointed out that it

Spring 1990 235 has been the subject of serious crit- physiological processes. These pro- icism, mainly by forensic pathologists. cesses function to secure human He was quite skeptical of all the existence and are important when the alternative therapies he discussed. body is threatened by sickness. The B. Velimirovic, a professor of power of medical mysticism, Schaefer medicine at the University of Graz, said, lies in the strong effect of Austria, worried that as the New Age emotion on the body. Schaefer is con- movement spreads from America to cerned that a completely rational base Europe, it may bring with it other for medicine will destroy faith as a questionable medical practices. Along healing factor, but he said that the with this infusion, Germany has seen same principle can be used rationally its own development of holistic med- within the system of psychosomatic icine, which Velimirovic blames not on medicine. a growing awareness of, and confi- In Session 4, ethnologist Helga dence in, the individual's ability to Velimirovic addressed the topic of maintain good health without the use "psychic surgeons" of the Philippines. of complex laboratory chemicals, but Though psychic surgery is frowned on economic factors, such as the high upon by most Filipinos, people from cost of medical services and the all over the world mistakenly believe inability of the system to cope with it is a practice of traditional shama- the burdens of the social environment. nism and travel to the Philippines for Session 3, on the New Age, began such treatments as a "last hope." Actu- with a harsh critique, by Martin ally the origin of psychic surgery dates Lambeck, professor of physics at the to the early twentieth century. Technical University of Berlin, of Further, scientific examinations have Fritjof Capra's popular books The Tao shown that it is based on trickery. of Physics and The Turning Point, which In his paper "Legal Issues When relate discoveries in quantum physics Dealing with Fringe Medicine," A. P. to Eastern thought. Lambeck claimed F. Ehlers, a physician from Munchen, that Capra's assertions are based on West Germany, called for new legal a misinterpretation of a hypothetical restrictions on the freedom to practice experiment proposed by Einstein, therapy. Available legal instruments, Podolsky, and Rosen, and that Capra's he said, are insufficient to prevent own claims are in contradiction to the damage to the health and well-being true meaning of the assertions of of patients who are unable to assess authorities, as well as to the findings the implications of the increased use of all experiments so far conducted. of fringe medicine. It is, in general, In a paper titled "The Longing for only after the damage has occurred Mysticism," Hans Schaefer, professor that legal measures are possible. emeritus of Heidelberg University, In Session 5, University of London acknowledged that' because of the biologist Michael Howgate discussed placebo effect nonscientific beliefs Archaeopteryx lilhographica, a fossil sometimes appear to be successful in discovered in 1861. T h e fossil supports the healing of illness. Schaefer evolutionary theory because it is an believes that thinking is strongly intermediate species, part reptile and influenced by emotional states, which part bird. Anti-evolutionists have are explained physiologically as the gone from calling it a "peculiarly stimulation of subcortal zones of the feathered reptile" (nonbird) to claim- brain, controlled by chemical pro- ing it is 100-percent bird. Neither of cesses that in turn depend on electro- these positions is defensible, however.

236 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 Although Fred Hoyle claims that the actual experiments, however, were fossil is a fake, Howgate—along with intended to check on conventional experts in paleontology—considers dowsing claims, including the so-called this claim to be completely unfounded. E-rays (Erdstrahlen in German). These Ulrich Thimm, a journalist from E-Rays are claimed to cause the Giessen, discussed the position of dowsing reaction. After participants in creationism in West Germany, where the project presented the experiments, 78 percent of the population believe Sarma criticized some of the known that the Book of Genesis correctly loopholes in the test. He also regretted describes the origin of the earth and the refusal of the Munich researchers, its life. Creationism, which was who are known to be "open" to imported from the United States, paranormal claims, to accept support continues to grow in Germany, draw- and advice from the German Society ing its support from evangelical for the Investigation of Para-Science. Christians. John Lord, of the University of Session 6 began with a discussion Surrey, U.K., discussed parapsychol- by Rolf Manne, professor of chemistry ogy and its failure to meet at least one at the University of Bergen, of the criterion for acceptance as a science. Norwegian experience with dowsing He summarized work of recent phi- as a means of locating avalanche losophers of science (Popper, Lakatos, victims. Double-blind experiments Kuhn), and also focused on J. S. Mill's performed by the Norwegian Army in outline of scientific methodology. 1987 showed a lack of positive results Lord showed how parapsychology, be- (see SI, Spring 1988, p. 234). Manne cause of the fundamental flaws in its stressed the need for the Norwegian preconceptions, cannot possibly fol- Army and the Red Cross to find low Mill's procedures, which he feels legitimate, simple, and safe tools for are fundamentally sound. For these the location and rescue of avalanche reasons, Lord feels that parapsychol- victims. He wondered how to separate ogy has no credibility as a science and any possible legitimate effect of is impotent to discover anything sig- dowsing from the illusory effect nificant about its own subject matter. discovered in Norway. Curt Roslund, astronomy profes- James Randi, who had offered all sor at the University of Gothenburg, dowsers—and claimants of other Sweden, discussed the "Astrology, paranormal powers—to take part in Science or Pseudoscience" course his live television show aired in June instituted in 1977 at his university. It 1989 (see SI, Fall 1989) with the is designed to demonstrate the inva- chance to win $100,000, offered his lidity of astrology, and is effective services to those involved in the because it is taught by astronomers, German Dowsing Research Project to who are well versed in planetary ensure proper experimental condi- motions and statistics. The course is tions. not restricted to university students, Amardeo Sarma, secretary of and it draws many schoolteachers who GWUP, discussed the German dows- can then pass the critique of astrology ing project, which received 400,000 on to their students. Deutschmarks from the German Claude Benski, secretary general of Federal Ministry for Research and the French Committee for the Study Technology. The project was titled of Paranormal Phenomena, discussed "The Reaction of Low-Intensity Fields the statistical risks when testing on Biological Macrosystems." The hypotheses. Normally there are two

Spring 1990 237 kinds of risks involved: the risk of rejecting a hypothesis that is true, and 'What Unsolved the risk of accepting a hypothesis that is not true. Statistical evaluation Mystery?': An enables a researcher to know what the Editorial Slam chances are for obtaining the observed results independent of the truth or falsity of the hypothesis. Benski noted hen the television show that paranormal claims are usually "Unsolved Mysteries" blew evaluated without proper use of the up a pleasant Nebraska statistical method, thereby incurring W church (scheduled for razing anyway) a third risk: that of conscious or to dramatize a supposed mystery in unconscious cheating. the explosion of another church, in Jean-Paul van Bendegem, a profes- Beatrice, Nebraska, in 1950, the sor at the Free University of Brussels, Omaha World-Herald decided to edi- described the new arguments, by torialize against the show's sensation- Larry Landen, for drawing the distinc- alism. At the same time the paper tion between science and pseudo- struck a strong blow for clear thinking science. Landen's is a pragmatic about "mysteries." approach, which bases the claim of "While there is no 'unsolved mys- validity for a theory on its problem- tery' about the Beatrice blast—fire solving capacity, making reference to officials blamed gas—'Unsolved Mys- truth-value irrelevant, but pointing to teries' producer Tim Rogan plans to the worthlessness of pseudoscience as play around with the 'divine interven- the distinguishing factor. tion' aspect of the fact that 12 choir The two papers given in the final members scheduled to be at practice session, taken together, were some- when the church exploded hadn't yet what alarming. First, Andreas Dill's arrived," said the editorial, titled paper, presented by Andreas Gertler "What Unsolved Mystery?" (Novem- because Dill was unable to attend, ber 23, 1989). "'What was the force pointed out that although there was that led all 12 members to show up no necessary connection between the late that night?' Rogan asks. two, both fascism and pseudoscience "The 'force' was undoubtedly coin- rejected elementary rules of critical cidence," the editorial states. It thinking. He described the anti- recounts World-Herald news accounts scientific nature of fascism. at the time suggesting various mun- Finally, science writer D. J. Fisher, dane reasons for the choir members' of Bristol, U.K., discussed the prolif- being late. eration of university-level research in "When Rogan and his people try the U.K. into pseudoscientific areas. to capitalize on a simple gas explosion Much of this, Fisher says, is biblio- that occurred in a small Nebraska graphic or skeptically inspired, but church almost 40 years ago, it shows some exhibits typical hallmarks of something about how desperate these what he calls "pathological science"— multiplying tabloid television shows something to watch out for. are to find 'stories' to illustrate. "A mysterious force indeed. The Third C51COP European Conference "That kind of what-if nonsense, is scheduled to be held at the Free stretching facts like Silly Putty and University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, bouncing them nearly as high, is why August 10-11, 1990. tabloid television shows don't deserve

238 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 the time Americans spend watching them." In Brief: Quakes, Crumbling Communism, —X.F. and a Complaint

Official Rehabilitation ^\fter the San Francisco area of Galileo? Pope Praises ^Aearthquake last October, M \Washington Post columnist 'That Great Man' Richard Cohen decided to ask Joan Quigley, Nancy Reagan's much- publicized astrologer, if she had or some years now the Catholic known it was coming and had taken church has been taking a series advance action. He found she had been F of steps to atone for its trial and at home, in San Francisco. "I've never incarceration of Galileo on heresy been so jolted, so shaken," she said. charges more than 350 years ago. Pope Says Cohen, "What I want to know John Paul II had previously said the is why a woman who told the pres- Inquisition erred in condemning Gali- ident the precise moment to sign a leo for teaching that the earth goes treaty couldn't see an earthquake around the sun. coming." Alas, she said that kind of But this past September John Paul prediction is best left to an earthquake traveled to Galileo's home town of astrologer. Quigley insisted that she Pisa and made his strongest pro- did know an earthquake was coming, Galileo statement yet. He said Galileo just not when. "No doubt," writes was right and the church was wrong. Cohen. "But the fact remains that the Speaking on Sunday, September woman who told Nancy Reagan what 24, 1989, at the University of Pisa, treaties Ronald Reagan should sign, where Galileo studied and taught, the when he should sign them, what to pope referred to some of the univer- do and when to do it at Bitburg, when sity's distinguished alumni—"above Air Force One should take off, when all, the very great Galileo." press conferences should be held, and At the beginning of the same even that Mikhail Gorbachev was on weekend, John Paul stood on a bridge the level and it was time to drop the overlooking the Arno River and 'evil empire' nonsense did not get out declared: "How can one not call the of town for an earthquake." name of that great man who was born here and from here took the first steps toward immortal fame? "Galileo Galilei, whose scientific The crumbling of communist power work, imprudently opposed at the in Eastern Europe and the dismantling beginning, is now recognized by all as of the Berlin Wall in the latter months an essential step in the methodology of 1989 were among the most of research and, in general, on the path momentous events of the postwar era. toward the knowledge of the world They were also a surprise to virtually of nature." everyone. "No journalist, politician, The pope's statements were widely professor, or economic expert saw interpreted by the citizens of Pisa as that change would come so suddenly Galileo's official rehabilitation. • to so many countries all over the East,"

Spring 1990 239 amateur astronomer and feel that the whole UFO 'phenomenon' is a crock of manure. ... He then launched into a rapturous advertisement for the . . . series, saying all my doubts would be resolved. Needless to say, I informed him of my lack of interest in the subject and ended the conver- sation. At a time when most of the media pander to pseudoscience, Time- Life's approach to science is refreshing and informative. However I am dis- tressed at Time-Life's desire to get on the 'New Age bandwagon.' ... I do not wish to receive any more solici- tations from Time-Life Books, either by phone or mail."

wrote the New York Times (December A show of "psychics" and "seers," 1,1989). What a good opportunity this scheduled for the Indiana, Pennsyl- was for astrologers and psychics to vania, Mall's twentieth-anniversary have shown off their ability to see the celebration, had to be canceled, accord- future. ing to the mall's announcement, due to "unforeseen scheduling diffi- culties."

When SI reader Vincent F. Safuto of -K.F. Lake Worth, Florida, got a "very irritating and insulting" phone call from Time-Life Books about its pro- paranormal "Mysteries of the • Worth Quoting Unknown" series (see SI, Summer 1989; Summer 1987; Spring 1987), he Science and Codswallop wrote a letter of complaint to George Constable, editor of Time-Life Books. The difference between science and Safuto described the calls as "an insult codswallop is real, if not always that to my intelligence." After some pre- evident. Science is what impels us to find liminaries, Safuto told Time-Life, out if something might be or clearly isn't during which he and the phone the case. Codswallop is what tells us that solicitor discussed the science- things can just as easily be one thing or oriented "Voyage Through the Uni- another and there's no telling which and verse" series, which Safuto gets and so we might just as well forget about it enjoys, the solicitor "proceeded to tell and believe whatever pleases us the most. me about the arrival of 'aliens' from Science is spending a lifetime trying to a UFO that had landed in the Soviet discover, if only to discover we were wrong. Union and how interesting it all was. I replied that I was the wrong person —Ralph Estling, in New Scientist to ask about UFOs, since I am an (May 27, 1989, pp. 75-76)

240 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 14 Hallmarks of Cranks the grocery store checkout counter. Here J can read all about the latest UFO sight- A hallmark of crank manuscripts is that ings and other fantastic scenarios. . . . they solve everything. . . . A second At the National Air and Space hallmark of cranks is that they are Museum we feature original artifacts of humorless. A third hallmark of the crank genuinely fantastic air and space ex- is that he is sure everyone is out to steal ploits. . . . his ideas. A fourth hallmark of the crank If we can sensitize our visitors to the is that he is determined to bring the "real stuff" in the Museum, perhaps they newspapers in somehow. A fifth hallmark will come away more objectively critical of cranks is that they use a lot of capital of the bizarre stories that appear even in letters. mainstream media and overcome our better judgment with repetition. While the —Jeremy Bernstein, Science tabloids appeal to our craving for the Observed: Essays Out of mysterious, the real world offers every bit My Mind (Basic Books, as much drama—actually more, because New York, 1983, pp. 305-314) editors have limited imaginations, but nature has no such constraints.

The Real Stuff —Howard A. Smith, National Air & Space Museum, in One of the most amazing spaces 1 run Air & Space/Smithsonian, across regularly is the magazine rack at (Dec. 1989/Jan. 1990)

THE FIRST 06>\COP MEMBER

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