The Neglected Facts of Science by Dewey B Larson

The Neglected Facts of Science

DEWEY B. LARSON

REACTIONS

and

REVIEWS

“After a few pages, you will see that there is obviously very much that iswrong with the standard Big Picture—the Big Bang, quasars, et al. Larsonticks off anomalies and unfounded speculations one after the other. Forexample, all stars regardless of age possess some heavy elements, but theorydoes not account for all of them. Whence the X-ray background of theuniverse? Is the General Theory of Relativity viable? After finishing thisbook, you may wonder if there is any firm ground left for the astronomer tostand upon.”

—Science Frontiers

A Review by Henry A. Hoff

Any student of Velikovsky, as yet unfamiliar with Dewey B. Larson, mightwonder from the title of this book if it contains a compendium of factspresented by Velikovsky and his supporters that have been neglected by thescientific establishment. It is certainly a book of facts neglected by theestablishment, but no book of 131 pages could present that many facts.Instead, it is a book of facts, evident from Larson’s theory of the physicaluniverse, that is certainly of interest to interdisciplinarians and may be of great importance to Velikovskians.Velikovsky was raised and educated in Europe, while Larson is pureAmericana. He was born on the plains of North Dakota in 1898 and spent hisearly years in Idaho. After an interruption for World War I in which heserved as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Coast Artillery, he pursued an engineeringdegree from Oregon State University. After graduating in 1922, he waslicensed by the State of Oregon as a mechanical engineer.Although Larson and Velikovsky are alike in their insatiable curiosity andtheir drive to understand causal forces, their approches differ drastically.Velikovsky ventured into ancient history and astronomy from his research in

psychoanalysis and developed an electromagnetic theory of the solar system,applicable to the Universe. Larson, on the other hand, explored theoreticalphysics from his background in mechanics and developed his physicaltheory based on

motion

.To even begin the task of creating his own physical theory, Larson had tobecome familiar with prevalent theories. He is not an academian nor aresearcher of the “Establishment”. In the preface of one of his earlier books,

Nothing But Motion

(1974), he described himself as an “uncommittedinvestigator”. Such an investigator is free of the economic politics of establishment science. Larson is an amateur in this sense only. In the courseof his research, he has noted observations and theoretical facts deduced inhis theory that have been and continue to be neglected by the professionals;hence this his latest book.At the heart of his theory and the first concept he presents to the reader iswhat he calls

scalar motion

. A scalar is the magnitude of a vector. InLarson’s theory it is a motion itself. The concept is difficult to convey andNeglected Factsis written to help explain, as well as to point out evidencefrom astronomy, that scalar motion and its variety of forms exist.His universe of scalar motion, called the Reciprocal System of Theory, isalgebraic and 3D Euclidean, making it a complex entity to visualize. It hasmany surprises. Motion, not matter, not energy, not charge, is the basicentity that occurs in discrete units. The concept of objects moving and theinteractions of these objects inside a container (the science of kinematics)seems intuitively obvious, as does the idea that all effects must have theircauses within the container. Larson claims these ideas are wrong. In histheory there is no “container” for objects to move around in. To him the“container” is a local imperception. He conceives of causes outside thissubjective “container” of our holocentric viewpoint, producing effects insidethe “container”. This exterior causal zone he refers to as the inverse orcosmic sector of the universe (where antimatter exists).There is what Larson refers to as “distributed scalar motion”. He introducesthis idea in his first chapter “Fundamentals” and refers to a variety of itspossible forms throughout the text. Any such motion : can have either aninward or an outward direction, yet has no pinpointable reference frame.When a reference frame is assigned, an object is created relative to thatreference frame. And the object can be observed to follow any path.

This property of distributed scalar motion is one “neglected fact”.Throughout the text he labels observations of or deductions about scalarmotion as either neglected, disregarded, or unrecognized facts. It would havebeen a great help to the reader if Larson had included a table of these factssomewhere. With this table the reader could locate appropriate pages andgain a clearer understanding of these facts.Larson does say that some facts have much more significant consequencesthan others. These he calls

crucial facts.

The existence of distributed scalarmotion is such a fact. When the “disregarded fact” that every fundamentalforce must originate from a fundamental motion is considered, distributedscalar motion is found to explain the fundamental forces. It is found toexplain electric charge and mass (inertial and gravitational).In Chapter 2 he mentions that distributed scalar motions can have up to threedimensions, only one of which can be seen at any time from a localreference frame. That one is seen in three dimensions locally. Theseconcepts do not appear to be deduceable from what he’s presented inNeglected Factsbut instead appear to come out of nowhere. Unfortunately, itgives the reader the feeling that Larson is inventing “bizarre devices” - forhis own theory - just like the ones he says others have invented to getRelativity theory to work: These concepts concerning distributed scalarmotion are introduced in his previous books; and through the use of thesemultidimensional distributed scalar motions, Larson is able to unifyelectricity, magnetism, and gravity. If the motion is one dimensional, it iselectric motion; two dimensional, it is magnetic; and three dimensional,gravitational.Velikovskians will find his discussions of gravity interesting. Larson makesno mention of Velikovsky’s theory that gravitation is an electromagneticphenomenon. To Velikovsky there is no need for gravity to actinstantaneously or to be unique. Larson, on the other hand, claims that it is aunique force derivable directly from motion, and that it does actinstantaneously (a “neglected fact”). But Larson’s point of view may be trueonly if gravitation is indeed the phenomenon being observed. Should localmanifestations that are called gravitation prove to be electromagneticphenomena, it may mean that Larson’s concept of gravitation needs to bereassessed.