June 1, 2007

A Stellar Heresy

In the past, people were always getting scientific things wrong — often laughably so. But modern science doesn't make those big mistakes anymore, or does it? Dr. Halton C. Arp thinks so. An eminent American astrophysicist, Dr. Arp was at the center of our scientific establishment until he insisted on talking about his observations from Mount Palomar, of red-shift, and what they mean for cosmology. No way to know how old the universe is, except that it's much, much older than conventional wisdom has it. No Big Bang. Faster than light travel. Well, it's all too much for the establishment to take and now Dr. Arp is in a kind of self-imposed exile at the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik in Germany. To me, Dr. Arp is the Galileo of our times. I have the highest regard for his work and, whether he's ultimately proved right or wrong, for the principled stand he's taken. Going along to get along isn't in it. It was a delight and an honor to talk with Dr. Arp. Please suspend your disbelief and listen to this seriously. Total runtime of fifty six minutes. Enjoy!