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Eric J. Lerner is a plasma physicist and plasma cosmologist. He is the President of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc. an "advanced technology research, consulting and communications firm". He has also been visiting astronomer at the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

Personal history

Lerner received a BA in Physics from Columbia University and did graduate work in physics at the University of Maryland, College Park without completing a degree. Lerner is currently the executive director of the Focus Fusion Society and president of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics in West Orange, New Jersey. Lerner wrote a popularization of plasma cosmology, The Big Bang Never Happened (1991). He has studied cosmic plasma phenomena and laboratory fusion devices, especially the dense plasma focus.

Between 1984 and 1993 he won the Aviation Space Writers Association award for journalism a number of times.

Lerner has written widely on scientific and technological topics for magazines such as IEEE Spectrum, Aerospace America, Discover, Industrial Physicist and IBM Research. His original scientific papers have been published in the Astrophysical Journal, Astrophysics and Space Science, Laser and Particle Beams and IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science.

He is a life-long political activist, a veteran of the 1965 Selma March and the 1968 Columbia Student Strike. He is a member of the NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee, and Workers Democracy Network.

Scientific activities

He is a critic of the big bang theory and advocates an infinitely old Universe. Lerner has developed original theories of quasars, large scale structure, the microwave background and the origin of light elements all based on the plasma cosmology approach. He claims that the intergalactic medium is a strong absorber of the cosmic microwave background radiation with the absorption occurring in a fog of narrow filaments. He has analyzed data on the surface brightness of galaxies that contradict the predictions of expanding-universe models.

Lerner developed a theory postulating that quasars are not related to black holes but are rather produced by a magnetic self-compression process similar to that occurring in the plasma focus. Through this work, he developed a detailed quantitative theory of the functioning of the plasma focus. Based on this theory, he proposed that the plasma focus could achieve high ion and electron energies at high densities, suitable for advanced fuel fusion and space propulsion. Lerner has done experimental work on the plasma focus in collaboration with the University of Illinois in 1994, with Texas A&M University in 2001 and with the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission. In addition, he developed an original model of the role of the strong magnetic field effect on plasma functioning, showing that this effect could make net energy production more feasible, potentially leading to an economical and safe source of energy.

He has presented this approach to fusion at several scientific conferences including (in the past five years) the IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science, 2002: the American Physical Society, 2003 and the XI Latin American Workshop on Plasma Physics, 2005. Lerner was an invited speaker at both the Fifth (2003) and Sixth (2005) Symposia on Current Trends in International Fusion Research, which is sponsored by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In the Sixth Symposium the paper was presented with Robert E. Terry, Naval Research Laboratory)(http://www.physicsessays.com/doc/s2005/Lerner_Transparencies.pdf)

His work challenging the Big Bang theory has been reported in popular science magazines, including a cover article of New Scientist (July 2, 2005) and in television and film documentaries . His views on cosmology have been published in periodicals ranging from Sky and Telescope to The New York Times. He is co-editor of the Proceedings of the First Crisis in Cosmology Conference (American Institute of Physics Proceeding Series.) In 2006, he was a Visiting Astronomer at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Santiago, Chile. He has been invited to present his theories at many leading institutions, including ESO, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Princeton University, the University of Pavia (Italy), The University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Criticism of Lerner's theories

Univ. of Hawaii Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy, Victor J. Stenger, and author of "God: The Failed Hypothesis", criticised Lerner's book, The Big Bang Never Happened, in a 1992 edition of the popular magazine, Skeptical Inquirer. Stenger writes:

"Lerner uses the kinds of arguments one often hears in public discourse on science, but rarely among professional scientists themselves. For example, he argues that plasma cosmology is in closer agreement with everyday observation than big-bang cosmology, and hence is the more sensible. A look through a telescope reveals spirals and other structures similar to those observed in the plasma laboratory (and, as cosmologist Rocky Kolb has remarked, in your bathroom toilet as well). Following Lerner's line of reasoning, we would conclude, as people once did, that the earth is flat, that the sun goes around the earth, and that species are immutable."

Lerner's supporters counter argue by noting that Stenger omits to mention that Lerner's book includes a description of the computer-simulation of spiral galaxies using the interactions in laboratory plasma, as published in several peer-reviewed journals.

UCLA astrophysicist Edward L.(Ned) Wright maintains a web page titled "Errors in the 'The Big Bang Never Happened'" in which he chronicles point by point, errors he has claimed in Lerner's theories..

Lerner refutes Dr. Wright's debunking in another website.

The Chicago Tribune reviewing The Big Bang Never Happened, noted that:

"Lerner does a fine job poking holes in Big Bang thinking and provides a historical perspective as well, linking scientific theories to trends in philosophy, politics, religion and even economics...a most readable book."

Gregg Sapp, (current Head of the Science Library, University Albany), in the Library Journal wrote that:

"Lerner, a plasma physicist, points out flaws in the Big Bang model and proposes an alternative theory: an eternal, self-sustaining "plasma" universe where electromagnetic fields within conducting gases provide other, simpler explanations for observed phenomena. His contention that the Big Bang is merely a repackaged creation myth is presumptuous, but well argued."

Partial list of papers and articles

Peer reviewed papers

• "Radio absorption by the intergalactic medium" Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 361, Sept. 20, 1990, p. 63-68. DOI: 10.1086/169167
• "Confirmation of radio absorption by the intergalactic medium". Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 207, Number 1; Pg 17-26 , September 1993. ISSN 0004-640X DOI 10.1007/BF00659126
• "Intergalactic radio absorption and the cobe data". Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 227, Numbers 1-2 Pg 61-81, May 1995. ISSN 0004-640X DOI 10.1007/BF00678067
• "Two world systems revisited: a comparison of plasma cosmology and the big bang". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 2003.
• Extended list of 40+ articles from Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System | (All articles)

Industrial Physicist articles

• "Fraud Shows Peer-Review Flaws". Industrial Physicist.
• "Plasma Propulsion in Space". Industrial Physicist. October 2000, Volume 6, Number 5. (PDF)
• "What's Wrong with the Electric Grid?" Industrial Physicist. Vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 8,10-13. Oct.-Nov. 2003.

Arxiv.org

• "Towards advanced-fuel fusion: Electron, ion energy >100keV in a dense plasma". physics/0205026, 36 pgs.
• "Prospects for P11B Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus: New Results". physics/0401126. Invited presentation, 5th Symposium "Current Trends in International Fusion Research: A Review" March 24-28, 2003, Washington, D.C., 25 pgs.

Other articles

• "Bucking the big bang". New Scientist. Vol. 182, no. 2448, pp. 20. 22 May 2004.
• "The Case Against the Big Bang". Progress in New Cosmologies : Beyond the Big Bang, New York : Plenum Press, 1993., p.89.
• "The Cosmologists' New Clothes". Sky and Telescope, V. 83, No., 2/Feb., pg 124, 1992.
• "Diode arrays boost efficiency of solid-state lasers". Laser Focus World, Vol. 34, no. 11, Nov 1998.

Notes

1. See Amazon Editorial Reviews where Lerner is described a "plasma physicist" twice
2. H. Ratcliffe, "The First Crisis in Cosmology Conference" (PDF), Progress in Physics (Oct 2005)
3. See Personnel listed on the Web site for Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc
4. See his recent appearance at the Goddard Space Flight Center
5. Victor J. Stenger, "Is the Big Bang a Bust?" Skeptical Inquirer, 16, 412, Summer 1992.
6. Lerner provides references to three papers (1) Peratt, A. L.; Green, J.; Nielsen, D., "Evolution of colliding plasmas" (1980) Physical Review Letters, vol. 44, June 30, 1980, p. 1767-1770; (2) Peratt, A. L.; Green, J. C., "On the evolution of interacting, magnetized, galactic plasmas" (1983) Astrophysics and Space Science (ISSN 0004-640X), vol. 91, no. 1, March 1983, p. 19-33; (3) Peratt, Anthony L., "Evolution of the plasma universe. I - Double radio galaxies, quasars, and extragalactic jets" (1986) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, Dec. 1986, p. 639-660.
7. Edward L.(Ned) Wright, "Errors in the 'The Big Bang Never Happened'"
8. See " Dr. Wright is Wrong -- a reply to Ned Wright's "Errors in The 'Big Bang Never Happened'" (Select menu item "Dr. Wright Is Wrong")
9. Quoted on the Random House Web site
10. Quoted at Amazon.com

See also

• Plasma cosmology
• Plasma Universe

External links and references

• Focus Fusion Society
• Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened"
  • Edward Wright, "Errors in the "The Big Bang Never Happened".
  • Eric Lerner, "Dr. Wright is Wrong -- a reply to Ned Wright's "Errors in The Big Bang Never Happened"
• "An Open Letter to the Scientific Community"cosmologystatement.org. Published in New Scientist, May 22, 2004.
• Focus Fusion poses overwhelming competition to $10 billion Tokamak - Interview with Eric Lerner. (OSEN; Nov. 2, 2005) (also at PESN)
• Eric Lerner biography
• Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.

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• American physicists
• Living people