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From: laska@netcom.com (Andrew Laska)
Subject: Re: Why scientists popularize premature speculations?
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Roger D. Nelson (rdnelson@tucson.princeton.edu) wrote:

: As for examples, unless you have totally ignored your education,
: practically everything you have learned in science was first a
: conjecture, unsupported by much beyond intuition, and very often
: disputed vigorously before eventual insertion into your textbooks. 
: -- 
:      Roger D. Nelson, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR)
:          C-131 E-Quad, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
:                voice: 609 258-5370  	fax: 609 258-1993
:                  email: rdnelson@phoenix.princeton.edu   

A great example is current work in chaotic dynamics. Such work was once 
'poo-pooed' by most of the establishment. Some even said that chaotic 
motion in dynamical systems was illusionary and of trivial significance. 
Now some systems have even been controlled to steady orbits by making use 
of the "illusionary" dynamics.

So much for the illusion.

Andrew

