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the temperature control data. Thus the so-called "Shankland paper", published in April 1955, concluded that any deviation Miller had found was due to temperature differences.* Thus Shankland was allowed to make his "speech" to the jury when the accused was no longer present. Unluckily for the historical record, the accused's attorney arrived too late to make any impression on "the educated public", only the "underground" was impressed and with little possibility of reopening the case.” useful, and in California, school children, dressed in white, sang unto him kindred unintelligibilities. In New York, mounted policemen roughly held back crowds from him, just as he, to make a system of thoughts, had clubbed many astronomical data into insensibility. He had taken into his system of thoughts irregularities of the planet Mercury, but had left out the irregularities of the planet Venus. Crowds took him into their holiday-making, but omitted asking what it was all about."" And Superman himself admitted: "Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore."*? Had he become the unwilling front figure of a movement whose message he could no longer grasp? If so, why did he not abandon it? Superman in Hyperspace have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself Encouraged by the enthusiastic and even religious reception of | anymore."*? Had he become the unwilling front figure of a the strange and utterly incomprehensible GTR, Einstein now movement whose message he could no longer grasp? If so, why emerged as a sort of scientific messiah for the post-World War I did he not abandon it? period. As dark clouds gathered over Europe and German Nazism started to evoke sinister images, Einsteinian wisdom Shrinking the Universe came as a ray of light to a dark world. Despite problems like the GTR getting out of hand even for its Years later, in 1960, Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier creator, from the mid-1920s Einstein set out on his next project published a trendsetting book, The Dawn of Magic,* wherein the worthy of a Titan. He wanted to use relativity to create a new pre-World War II era is characterised by a frenetic search for theory not only for Mercury's orbit and bent light but for secret knowledge and supermen. There were the Rosicrucians, encompassing the whole universe.* But there were some minor the sinister secret semi-religious Nazi lodges, Freemasonry and problems. No one knew the size of the universe. No one knew alchemy, and then there was Einstein! the total mass of all stars in the He is pictured in the book as the well- universe. No one knew how matter known mystical scientist, dressed in . was distributed. No one knew of shabby clothes, his white hair By assuming such magnetic forces, of dust, of creating an aura around his head, unproven facts, Einstein intergalactic ice, of the number of smiling as he sits in front of a solar systems, of ages of stars—of blackboard filled with advanced was soon to proclaim that his anything but the fact that the number mathematics. The book asks us to calculations had shown that of stars seemed rather "infinite". believe that this man is one of a But for Einstein and latter-day selected group of supermen who can the universe Is a closed theoretical scientists, such problems see into different realities. He space-time world were minor obstacles. So Einstein typifies the scientist in the ivory 2 . assumed that all matter is distributed tower. of finite size. evenly in the universe and that there And who was more eager than Einstein to promote the myth in his are no rotations in space, that everything is either still or moving in own time? According to Time nice, linear paths. By assuming such magazine: "...Einstein himself had warned his publishers there unproven facts, Einstein was soon to proclaim that his were not more than twelve people in the whole world who could calculations had shown that the universe is a closed space-time understand his theory". Swedish plasma physicist Professor world of finite size. He estimated its age to be a few hundred Hannes Alfvén (1908-1995) later complained: "The people were _ million years, forgetting that the solar system is estimated to be told that only Einstein and a few geniuses that were able to think — some billions of years old.“ By a stroke of magic, Einstein had in four dimensions could understand the true nature of the shrunk the universe! physical world. Science was something to believe in, not If all matter is evenly distributed and gravitation is working something that should be understood. Soon the bestsellers among between stars, planets and galaxies, why hasn't this orderly blob popular science books became those that presented scientific of creation collapsed? results as an insult to common sense." For reasons of principle, Einstein firmly rejected the idea of a In Michio Kaku's book Hyperspace,°° illustrations show rotating universe where centrifugal forces will drive stars and Einstein doing exactly what Professor Alfvén complained about: galaxies apart, although it was known by 1919 that the universe is looking into multidimensional spaces and explaining to the not homogeneous and, indeed, that parts of it seem to rotate. His uninitiated the complicated nature of hyperspace—the moniker reasoning was based on the first postulate of the STR, which for "spaces" with more than three "dimensions". But even states that all movements are relative. According to Einstein, believers had to admit there was a problem. How do we see the believing in rotating galaxies is to give rotation an absolute fourth dimension? The problem is, we can't. Higher dimensions status—just as Sagnac showed in 1913. The case went so far that, are impossible to visualise, so it is futile even to try. Even in the mid-1920s, relativists asked Michelson to perform the experienced mathematicians and theoretical physicists who have Sagnac experiments all over again, using the spinning Earth as the worked with higher dimensional spaces for years admit that they rotating laboratory. Michelson complained that all they would cannot visualise them! Instead, they retreat into the world of achieve would be to prove that the Earth is spinning, nothing mathematical equations. Except for Einstein himself, of course. more.® And so they did, and yet Einstein refused to accept So for the time being, they had superman and the scientist in rotation! one and the same person and a myth was created. Anomalous According to plasma physicist Eric J. Lerner, Einstein's phenomena researcher/writer and satirist Charles Fort stubborn rejection of facts had a profound impact on cosmology at (1874-1932) chided in Wild Talents: "Einstein was said to be that time and is still haunting astrophysics today. "First, it By assuming such unproven facts, Einstein was soon to proclaim that his calculations had shown that " of finite size. NEXUS + 51 the universe is a closed space-time world OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2007 www.nexusmagazine.com