Pseudophysics



This is the nice thing about Internet anarchy: anybody is free to manifest one's own irrelevance. (Umberto Eco)

For fools rush in, where angels fear to tread. (Alexander Pope)

The world is crammed with people who think they have The Big Idea That Will Shake Physics, and being unable (or unwilling) to get it published in a scientific journal try to make it known via the Net - much cheaper than publishing a book at one's own expenses (although some do this anyway). Needless to say, most of these ideas are based on gross ignorance or misunderstanding of physics, the scientific method, or both.

  • Langmuir's celebrated talk on pathological science
  • Crank Physics: how to spot pseudophysics
  • Crackpot index, to spot it in your own theories :-)
  • Characterization of Quack Theories (more focused on medicine)
  • Crank.net, a rather comprehensive list of wacky... sorry, alternative thinkers on the Web.
  • Italian (and foreign) pseudoscientists (Italian)
  • A case study (Italian)