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Eric Lerner

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File:Big-bang-never-happened.jpg
Lerner's 1991 book, The Big Bang Never Happened

Eric J. Lerner (b. 31 May 1947, Brookline, MA.) is a plasma physicist and one of the most prominent advocates of plasma cosmology, a controversial and non-mainstream alternative cosmology. He is the President of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc., a New Jersey-based technology research, consulting and communications firm. Lerner has also authored the popular science book, The Big Bang Never Happened (1991), which criticised the then-current research and theories regarding the Big Bang model.

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.

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. Most of his astronomical work is contradicted by mainstream astrophysicists and cosmologists.

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.

In 2006 he accepted an invitation, offered at the initiative of fellow Big Bang critic and MOND enthusiast Riccardo Scarpa, to be a Visiting Astronomer at the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

Criticism of Lerner's ideas

James Van Allen, discover of the Van Allen belts, wrote, on the back cover of Lerner's The Big Bang Never Happened:

"Eric J. Lerner gives both a provocative critique of the Big Bang and a stimulating account of the insightful and creative, although controversial, cosmology of Nobel Laureate Hannes Alfven."

However, the response of the scientific community has generally been sharply critical. For example, Univ. of Hawaii Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy, Victor J. Stenger, and author of "God: The Failed Hypothesis", criticised Lerner's book 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."

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, what he argues to be errors in Lerner's cosmological proposals.. Lerner later posted a response to some of Wright's critiques.

Björn Feuerbacher, physicist at the University of Heidelberg and Ryan Scranton, physicist at the University of Pittsburgh wrote of Eric Lerner's analysis:

"Lerner's arguments against the BBT fall well short of convincing.... At the same time, Lerner's claims about the ability of the plasma cosmology model to describe the observations correctly are simply wrong.... Lerner also has a bad habit of citing scientific articles in support of his case when, in fact, they actually run contrary to his claims."

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."

British physicist and writer Alec MacAndrew wrote that:

"The Lerner book, at least, is quirky and badly flawed. Anyone who is really interested in understanding the science needs to read much more widely than that."

Sean Carroll, assistant professor in the Physics Department, Enrico Fermi Institute, and Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago writes about Lerner's understanding of general relativity (GR):

"But if your professional activity consists of combating a cosmological model that is based on GR, you shouldn't open your mouth without understanding at least the basics. So if I get to decide whether to allocate money or jobs to one of the bright graduate students working on some of the many fruitful issues raised by the Big Bang cosmology, or divert it to a crackpot who claims that the Big Bang has no empirical successes, it's an easy choice. Not censorship, just sensible allocation of resources in a finite world."

Arno A. Penzias, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, wrote to the New York Times:

"The sizes of the vast ribbons of galaxies that Eric J. Lerner refers to come straight out of the Big Bang model itself.... Contrary to Mr. Lerner's claim, therefore, the 'simple mathematics' he cites rests upon, rather than contradicts the Big Bang model."

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
Arxiv.org
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 as 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. Logged at the ESO website
  5. Stenger, Victor J. (Summer 1992). "Is the Big Bang a Bust?". Skeptical Inquirer. 16 (412).
  6. Edward L.(Ned) Wright, "Errors in the 'The Big Bang Never Happened'"
  7. Dr. Wright is Wrong -- a reply to Ned Wright's "Errors in The 'Big Bang Never Happened'"
  8. Evidence for the Big Bang
  9. Quoted at Amazon.com
  10. The Big Bang is not a Myth
  11. http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html Preposterous Universe
  12. Letter to the Editor June 18, 1991


See also

External links and references

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