1. The Need of New Approaches - Kritische Stimmen zur ...

Chapter 9: The Thought Experiment
million euros of taxpayers’ money (mine included) for education and for informing the general public about the
theory of relativity. The costs of an e-mail exchange for purposes of giving a definite answer by your scientific
experts to my specific question need certainly constitute no problem, or?
I remind you that my question was:
Which experiments experimentally checked and confirmed Einstein’s assumption from his special theory of
relativity in 1905, that the speed of a beam of light is independent of the speed of the observer?
I would be most grateful to you, dear Dr. Schavan, if you could see to it that my question is given a definite
answer from those you have identified.”
The text of the e-mail is available in the Internet:
http://www.jocelyne-lopez.de/blog/2007/11/august-2007-jocelyne-lopez-schreibt-an-dr-annette-schavanbundesministerin-fur-bildung-und-forschung/
Letter Sent to the German President Horst Köhler
3227 / 2007-09-17
G. O. Mueller writes to the German President, on the occasion of reports in the press as to the address of the
German President during celebrations associated with the Officers’ Academy of the German Armed Forces in
Hamburg on 14.9.07. Requests, with reference to scientific freedom in keeping with the German constitution, Art.
5, paragraph 3, the coming into force, for the first time since the introduction of the German constitution, of
scientific freedom in the specialist field of “theoretical physics”.
Enclosed is an “Open Letter on Scientific Freedom Sent to 100 Professors of the Humboldt-Universität Berlin
and to 100 Professors of the Technische Universität Dresden”; also enclosed are all of the current publications of
the
Research Project “95 years of criticism of the special theory of relativity (1908-2003)”.
All quotes stem from the report on the address of the German President given in the TAGESSPIEGEL (15.9.07)
under the title “Köhler: Deutschland ist zu träge” [Köhler: Germany is Too Sluggish] and in the commentary “Mal
wieder ein Ruck” [Yet Another Jolt]. - Extracts:
“Dear Mr. President
We respectfully refer you to your address in Hamburg in which, according to the cited report, you addressed the
need for a “systematic promotion of an elite”. You saw everywhere an “activity-requiring sluggishness”, you
criticized the absence of a “systematic selection of the best under equal chances”, you were disappointed that in
many areas “only mediocrity was offered” and you missed “the sense for unconventional and fresh thinking”.
Moreover, you are literally quoted as having stated:
“None too few investigations show how very much some part-elitists - whether intentionally or not - reproduce
themselves. In other words: they close themselves to powerful talent from outside.”
The Federal Republic of Germany has failed “to form a democratic elite, in terms of performance and
responsibility, with jointly shared codes of value”.
The commentator interpreted the “dream of the intact society of citizens” as your objective and saw it as a
remarkable aspect of your speech, that you introduced the pair of concepts “elite” and “equal chances” into the
discussion.
The report on your address and our great respect for your administration of office, which does not seek to evade
even controversies, have moved us, in the context of the current reference, to present you with the problem of the
validity of the constitution for a scientific subject, to which our research project has been devoted for many years
now. [...]
Here you will be able to appreciate why your discussion of “selection of the best”, “equal chances”, “the sense
for unconventional and fresh thinking”, of regrettable closure “against powerful talent from outside”, of a
“democratic elite, in terms of performance and responsibility” and of the “dream of an intact society of citizens” has
absolutely electrified us.
Should there indeed be someone in the Federal Republic of Germany who is interested in such nice things, we
142
G. O. Mueller: STR 2012