Talk:Petr Beckmann

Redlinks
It is likely that the article on A History of Pi will be written sometime, even if Hillman immediately puts it up for deletion ;->. If so, the redlink will tell browsers this. Septentrionalis 22:38, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

ICUS
I first heard about him 20 years ago, as a particpant in an ICUS conference. --Uncle Ed 19:39, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Einstein Plus Two
This article claims that Einstein Plus Two was an attempt to "debunk" Einstein. That claim isn't accurate. It is an attempt to formulate a theory that explains the same things, but doesn't rely on Einstein's premises. The word "debunk" ought to be removed. I suggest a wording something along the lines of "a fringe theory of physics proposed an an alternative to Einstein's special relativity". The book doesn't actually attempt to refute Einstein's theory. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.118.176.10 (talk) 15:08, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

The article also refers to the journal Galilean Electrodynamics (GED) as "disputatious", which although perhaps a matter of opinion, seems to be the same kind of mistake made in referring to Beckmann's purpose as to "debunk Einstein". In this regard, the inclusion of any page about Galilean Electrodynamics was formally banned from the pages of Wikipedia at a mock trial because of an accusation of publishing antisemitic material, and anyone can check to see that the record of the proceedings includes no physical evidence to support that accusation. On the whole, Beckman's work (as well as Wikipedia and many other persons and works) seems to be harmed at this time due to the vulnerability of wikis to the lowest common intellectual denominator. It's more than a mere coincidence that Beckman's journal was named after a man who was imprisoned for debunking a belief cherished by religious zealots, and like this predecessor, his work may someday be recognized for its true quality.

Beckmann Biography seems accurate December 2013
I worked for Petr Beckmann as a mail clerk in 1981, and we remained friends until he died. I frankly expected the page to be full of smears and distortions, but the information presented at this time tallies fairly well with my personal recollections.

Prof. Beckmann did join the editorial board of The Intellectual Activist, but resigned along with most others following publication of Peter Schwartz' series titled "Libertarianism: Perversion of Liberty." He also resigned from a Reason Magazine board, but I believe it was on account of their weak defense policies. Prof. Beckmann spoke kindly of the organizers of the Libertarian Party.

He did work on the radar project for the British during WWII, after watching National Socialist armies take over his country. A novel describing the use of the project, Glide Path, was published by another physicist who worked on it, Arthur C. Clark, better known for his science fiction.

Beckmann did not write Einstein Plus 2 to debunk Einstein any more than Einstein wrote the relativity papers to debunk Newton. Both wrote because of discrepancies between theory predictions and measurements. Unfortunately, both men also came up with explanations that are difficult for laymen to follow. But just as Einstein was interested measurements of the speed of light not matching theory, Beckmann comes up with different perspectives and cites experiments, sources, data and spells out the math, albeit at a dizzying height, to focus on tiny discrepancies and delve into their whys and wherefores. If there is error there, someone will probably notice it someday. The man had a library of thousands of scientific volumes in at least five languages and was a tireless worker. For exercise he rode a mountain bike up and down steep Rocky Mountain slopes and was nearly killed once in a collision with a pickup truck. jhenryphillips.com translator (talk) 00:52, 22 December 2013 (UTC)