Expert: Philip Stahl - 12/2/2008

Question
QUESTION: I was wondering if you have heard of John Dobson of the Sidewalk Astronomers, and if so, what do you think about what he teaches in cosmology.
Thank you,
Urania

ANSWER: Hello,

Yes, I've heard of Dobson ("father" of the Dobsonian telescope) but whether he has taught anything about cosmology is not really on my radar. I have associated him more with telescope- design than with theoretical astronomical topics.

Maybe you can elighten me here?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Here is a website of the Sidewalk Astronomers that he founded. http://www.sfsidewalkastronomers.org/
Beyond Space and Time is a book he wrote. If you go to Amazon and plug in the name of the book and look at the page showcasing the book read the book description and also the first review written about the book. there, someone did a nice job explaining his mission minus the physics aspect.
The following link also tells you about John Dobson.http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/2006_articles/spring%202006/Books_Dobson.p
Also, this link will take you to some of his articles and his biography. http://www.sidewalkastronomers.us/id31.html Be sure to read his articles there.
He wants to be remembered more for his theories of cosmology rather than for the dobsonian telescope.
I have never met anyone who was more dedicated to public service in astronomy.
I hope you will be able to get a good idea of his ideas and tell me what you think.
Thank you

Answer
Hello,

I picked up a good synopsis of Dobson's claims at the Wiki link for his name (astronomer), which notes:

"Dobson is a strong critic of the Big Bang model, labeling it as "fudge without walnuts". In The Equations of Maya, Dobson writes: “The Big Bang cosmologists want to get the Universe out of nothing. It’s like asking us to believe that nothing made everything out of nothing. But that’s not what shows in our physics.”[4]

He suggests that the Big Bang model has many flaws and that the theory has become quite “tortured” in order to keep the model viable, likening it to the Ptolemaic system. He cites the inconsistency of dark matter, that cannot be explained without resorting to what he considers increasingly complicated, unlikely and unsupported theories. In essence, Dobson claims that physicists have been inventing new physics to match the Big Bang model, recently with a "mystery" called dark energy. He is also a critic of an education system which, he asserts, indoctrinates young scientists in the Big Bang model “without presenting any of the problems” with it. Ultimately, Dobson is more interested in challenging people to broaden their thinking, and to think more critically, than to debate which cosmological model is correct"


Needless to say, my contention is Dobson is "out to Lunch" on this - since the evidence for dark energy-matter is overwhelming (see any or all of my previous answers to do with dark energy for example) and the Big Bang has already seen THREE astronomers win Nobel Prizes for their work! Including Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias for the original discovery of the 2.7K microwave background radiation which can only be traced to a primordial event such as the Big Bang.

I don't intend for one second to expatiate on all the reasons why Dobson is wrong, because frankly it doesn't matter. None of his claims or "theories" have been published in any peer-reviewed journals that have gravitas - such as the Astrophysical Journal. Also, while undoubtedly a superb builder of telescopes (like the Dobsonian) his qualifications for pontificating on cosmology are somewhat lacking (not that this disqualifies, but it is helpful in getting one's work published in premier journals!)

It is perhaps possible, and I see this a lot, that Dobson has allowed his spiritual instincts and beliefs to dictate his science. This is not new and one sees it more and more these days, as with Paul Davies, and Frank Tipler ('The Physics of Christianity' - which I also wrote an extended book review about at amazon.com).

One hopes that one of these days, people will understand that their beliefs have nothing to do with whether a Big Bang occurred or whether dark energy exists. In the end we use replicable empirical tests (at whatever scale) and until these tests are surpassed by better ones, all else is pure speculation.

Hope this helps!