Re: December 2005 Scientific American article


David Thomson wrote:
> http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000ADA62-D854-137C-962A83414B7F0000&ref=sciam&chanID=sa006
>
> Scientific American: An ECHO of Black Holes [ PHYSICS ]
>
> Sound waves in a fluid behave uncannily like light waves in space.
> Black holes even have acoustic counterparts. Could spacetime literally
> be a kind of fluid, like the ether of pre-Einsteinian physics?

It appears that Scientific American (a magazine that helped me learn to
read when I was only 5) has degenerated to the point it is becoming the
National Inquirer of the empirical sciences.

Any competent physicist is aware that viscous fluids do not support
transverse waves or polarization, let alone coherent beams. This fact
has been used to map the interface between the earth's mantle and the
liquid core.

The 'analogy' between sound waves and light waves is patently a false
analogy, and the authors should be aware of this. Scientific American
must be absolutely *desperate* for copy if they are running this tripe
as a 'feature article.' Unfortunately this kind of publishing will
only further damage their reputation.

"Analogies are like ropes; they tie things together well, but you won't
get very far if you try to push them." - Thaddeus Stout

Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA

.

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