Re: Been there, done that: rewards and "proofs"
George Murphy (gmurphy@raex.com)
Thu, 02 Sep 1999 15:12:04 -0400
Ted Davis wrote:
>
> The recent post reminds me of Rimmer's offer to pay $100 (later upped to
> $1000) "to anyone who can prove that there is even one scientific error in
> the Bible!" He was sued twice in unsuccessful attempts to collect.
>
> This also reminds me of RG Elmendorf's offer of $1000 for "scientific
> proof- positive that the earth moves." Mr Elmendorf, of the Pittsburgh
> Creation Society, will not accept the usual suspects, such as the aberration
> of starlight, the Corilois effect, the earth's tidal bulge, the Foucault
> pendulum, ...., well, you get the picture.
>
> What's next, a thousand bucks for "scientific proof" that I am not a
> figment of your sotfware's imagination?
25 years ago Al Snyder of California offered a $1000 prize (why is it always
$1000? Haven't they ever heard of inflation?) for anyone who could find an error in his
proof that "Newton's Laws are Full of Flaws" (the title of one of his self-published
books). Needless to say it wasn't hard for me to find the errors & even more needless
to say I never got the $1000.
I also remember vaguely a story of some guy in Germany who offered a similar
prize for something or other & a group of German scientists took him to court & forced
him to pay. Sorry I don't recall the details.
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@raex.com
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/