Robert L. Park
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Robert L. (Bob) Park is a professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park and was associated with the American Physical Society. Park is most noted for his commentaries on pseudoscience such as telepathy and homeopathy in his popular book Voodoo Science. He is also seen in the media as an outspoken critic of manned spaceflight, efforts to colonize space, and the prototype U.S. National Missile Defense. He was the one who criticized Dennis Lee's claims that he had invented a device from which he could extract "free-energy" which violates the conservation of energy principle.
Park writes a weekly column, What's New, which features discussions on topics such as science news, space exploration, energy, the government in science, pseudoscience, the creationism versus evolution debate, and nuclear weapons.
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[edit] Wikipedia
In the March 23, 2007 edition of What's New, he had these comments about Wikipedia:
WIKIPEDIA: HAS A BEAUTIFUL IDEA FALLEN VICTIM TO HUMAN NATURE?
Science owes its success and credibility to openness. Findings, including details of how they were obtained, are exposed to the scrutiny of the entire scientific community. It sounds like a prescription for chaos, but it's a mechanism for self-correction. The alternative is dogma. Could openness be extended to all knowledge? With Wikipedia, it seemed to work for a time, but for those who profit from a misinformed public, including purveyors of pseudoscience, the target is too tempting to leave alone.[1]
[edit] Books
- Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud, Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-19-514710-3.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- What's New — weekly column
- Bob Park's Universe — personal homepage
- New York Times article
- Skeptical Inquirer article
- Washington Post review of Voodoo Science
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