MOTION MOUNTAIN

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288 9 concepts, lies and patterns of nature Challenge 287 e Challenge 288 s Challenge 289 e Challenge 290 s “Quator verosuntmaxima comprehendendae veritatis offendicula,quaeomnem quemcumquesapientem impediunt,etvix aliquempermittunt adverumtitulum sapientiae pervenire:videlicetfragilis et indignaeauctoritatis exemplum, consuetudinis diurnitatis, vulgisensusimperiti, etpropriae ignorantiae occultatiocumostentatione sapientiae apparentis.* RogerBacon,Opusmajus,1267.” “Esistjanichtalles,wasichdenBürgern sage, gelogen.** Chancellor. KonradAdenauer,1962,WestGerman” Some lies are entertaining and funny – and are better called jokes –, some are signs of psychic disturbance, and someare made with criminal intent. Some statementsare not lies,butsimply nonsense.Have fun distinguishing them. ∗∗ During a church sermon, a man fell asleep. He dreamt about the French revolution: he was being brought to the guillotine. At that moment, his wife noticed that he wassleeping. In the same moment in which the man dreamt that the knife was hitting him, his wifegave him a tap on his neck with her fan.The shock instantly killed the man. – Is this story true or false? ∗∗ A well-knownbadlie: ‘YesterdayIdrowned.’ ∗∗ Starting in the1990s,so-called crop circleswere producedby people walking with stilts, a piece of wood and some rope into fields of crops. Nevertheless, many pretended and even more believed that these circles were made by extraterrestrial beings. Can you find some reasons why this is impossible? ∗∗ Often one hears or reads statements like: ‘mind (or spirit or soul) is stronger than matter.’ Beware of anybody who says this; he wants something from you. Can you show that such statements are all and always wrong? ∗∗ In certain countries, two lies were particularly frequent in the early twenty-firstcentury. Thefirst:globalwarmingdoesnotexist.Thesecond:globalwarmingisnotduetohuman causes.Arethesegoodorbadlies? * ‘Therearefourstumblingblockstotruthandknowledge:weakandunworthy authority, custom,popular prejudice,andtheconcealment ofignorance with apparent knowledge.’ ** ‘Indeed,not everything that Itell the peopleisalie.’ Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–November 2015 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
concepts, lies and patterns of nature 289 Challenge 291 s Challenge 292 s Challenge 293 s Challenge 294 e Challenge 295 s Challenge 296 e Challenge 297 s ∗∗ Sometimes it is heard that a person whoseskin is completely covered with finest metal powder will die, due to the impossibility of the skin to breathe. Can you show from you own observation that this is wrong? ∗∗ A famous mixture of hoax and belief premises that the Earth was created about six thousandyearsago.(Somebelievers even use this lie as justification for violence against nonbelievers.) Can you explain why the number is wrong? ∗∗ A famous provocation: the world has been created last Saturday. Can you decide whether this is wrong? ∗∗ Hundreds of hoaxes are found on the www.museumofhoaxes.com website. It gives an excellent introduction into the art of lying; of course it exposes only those who have been caught. Enjoy the science stories, especially those about archaeology. Several other sites with similar content can be found on the internet. ∗∗ In the 1990s, many so-called ‘healers’ inthePhilippinesearnedlargeamountsofmoney by suggesting patients that they were able to extract objects from their bodies without operating.Whyisthisnotpossible? (Formoreinformationonhealthlies,seethewww. quackwatch.comwebsite.) Ishomoeopathyalie? ∗∗ ∗∗ ‘Amber helps against tooth ache.’ ‘A marriage partner should have the correct blood group/zodiacal sign.’ ‘Opening an umbrella inside a house brings bad luck.’ ‘The number8bringsgoodluck.’ Thesearecommonstatementsofnonsensearoundtheworld. ∗∗ Since the 1980s, certain persons have claimed that it is possible to acquire knowledge simply from somebody1000 km away, without any communication between the two people. However, the assumed ‘morphogenetic fields’ realizing this feat cannot exist. Why not? ∗∗ It is claimed that a Fire Brigade building in a city in the US hosts a light bulb that has been burning without interruption since 1901 (at least this was the case in 2005). Can this be true? Hundreds of such stories, often called ‘urban legends,’ can be found on the www.snopes.com website. However, some of the stories are not urban legends, but true, as the site shows. Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–November 2015 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
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ChristophSchiller MOTION MOUNTAIN t
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Editiovicesima octava. Proprietassc
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DieMenschenstärken,die Sachenklär
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8 preface PHYSICS: Describing motio
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10 preface Your donation to the cha
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12 contents Do we see what exists?
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Light, Charges and Brains Inourques
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16 1 electricity and fields F I G U
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18 1 electricityandfields F I G U R
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24 1 electricity and fields TA B L
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34 1 electricityandfields F I G U R
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42 1 electricity and fields Oersted
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44 1 electricity and fields Vol. IV
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48 1 electricity and fields Ref. 24
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50 1 electricity and fields Page 21
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52 1 electricity and fields Ref. 29
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Vol. IV, page 231 Chapter 2 THE DES
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Chapter 3 WHAT IS LIGHT? Ref. 57 Pa
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96 3 what is light? Electric field
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104 3 what is light? Page 84 gases
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106 3 what is light? Fre - Waveleng
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108 3 what is light? Challenge 110
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110 3 what is light? incoming light
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112 3 what is light? Ref. 70 Challe
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114 3 what is light? F I G U R E 69
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116 3 what is light? light Ref. 72
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118 3 what is light? light Challeng
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120 3 what is light? momentumLis gi
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126 3 what is light? Ref. 87 Page 9
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130 3 what is light? v ph v So F I
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132 3 what is light? The forerunner
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134 3 what is light? vocabulary. On
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138 3 what is light? B B Beam in A
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Chapter 4 IMAGES AND THE EYE - OPTI
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142 4 images and the eye - optics 2
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144 4 images and the eye - optics C
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Chapter 5 ELECTROMAGNETIC EFFECTS R
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236 7 the story of the brain F I G
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362 bibliography 10 Thiseffect hasf
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366 bibliography M.B. van der Mark
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CREDITS Acknowledgements Many peopl
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NAME INDEX A Abbott A Abbott,T.A.37
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396 name index D Democritus Democri
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398 name index H Holmes Holmes, C.D
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400 name index M Mohr Mohr, P.J. 38
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402 name index S Sheldon Sheldon, E
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404 name index Z Zybin Motion Mount
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406 subject index A units 328 Aplys
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408 subject index C classical class
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410 subject index E Earth Earth age
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412 subject index F finite finite 2
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414 subject index I infrared photog
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416 subject index L Lorentz Lorentz
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422 subject index S Scarabeus Scara
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424 subject index T table d’Unit
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426 subject index W Wien’s Wien
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