The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 17.0160 Monday, 13 March 2006
From: Bill Arnold <
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Date: Friday, 10 Mar 2006 12:53:33 -0800 (PST)
Subject: 17.0131 Ideas on the Internet
Comment: Re: SHK 17.0131 Ideas on the Internet
Larry Weiss quotes, "The question of priority is old, vexed, subjective
and subject to bias. If anyone were to 'propose' a new opinion on SHK,
would he have a scholarly claim, or must that honor always go to first
mention in a peer-reviewed publication?"
Then Larry Weiss writes, "This is an important issue. I wonder if
anyone has done a study of the speed and breadth of transmission of a
new idea broached for the first time in an internet group."
There seems to be little doubt that history records the honor goes to
the first discoverer or theorist. In the sciences, the planet Neptune
generally was first viewed by Galle of Germany in 1846, and although
Frenchman Le Verrier often is cited, history records Englishman Adams
first made the mathematical prediction of a planet beyond Uranus.
Exploring The Planets - Discovery - Discovering The Planets The British
astronomer James Challis, using Adams' predictions, observed the ... Who
should receive credit for discovering Neptune? Adams or Le Verrier who
... www.nasm.si.edu/ceps/etp/discovery/disc_planets.html -
In the same light, history records that Pythagoras predicted a
solar-centric planetary system, although most believe Copernicus was the
first.
In the fine arts, as well, history usually finds the truth and records
the truth, to the dismay of claimants and their followers to the
contrary. In other words, the notion of peer-reviewed publication takes
second place to the *dating* of the discovery or theory, according to
historians. So, it makes no difference of the discipline or the players
credentials, as long as someone has *priority.*
Bill Arnold
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