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Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature
Book by Corliss, William R.
350 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1994
57 people want to read
About the author
William R. Corliss
108 books18 followersWilliam Roger Corliss was an American physicist and writer who was known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...
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July 12, 2024
William R. Corliss (1926-2011) was an American physicist and writer who was known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena in astronomy, geophysics, geology, archaeology, biology, etc., which he published in books such as Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena, Ancient Man: A Handbook of Puzzling Artifacts, Biological Anomalies: Humans (Catalog of Biological Anomalies), Biological Anomalies, Mammals I: A Catalog of Biological Anomalies, etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1994 book, "The primary purpose of this book is entertainment. Do not look for profundities! All I claim here is an edited collection of naturally occurring anomalies and curiosities that I have winnowed mainly from scientific journals and magazines published between 1976 and 1993." He adds, "I admit freely that this book... harbor(s) a scattering of fraudulent and questionable data. I try to weed these out... On the other hand, I do not apologize for retaining phenomena upon which mainstream science has 'closed the book.'" Unlike many of Corliss's other books, he does not include the entire article, but only short excerpts with his commentary.
For example, he cites an article about the famous Nazca lines in Peru, which says "You do not need to be in an airplane to appreciate the lines; most can be viewed from ground level, even better, from nearby foothills." (Pg. 38) He questions Stephen Jay Gould's argument about the flamingo's "smile" (in The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History), "Why would animals indulge in such bizarre behavior in the first place? A proto-flamingo... would not be very efficient and would probably get a snootful of water in the bargain! A half-flamingoized bill wouldn't be much better." (Pg. 141) He asks, "If we do not understand how present-day peat forms, how can we be so dogmatic about coal-forming processes millions of years ago?" (Pg. 217) He says, "No one really knows just how the terrestrial magnetic field is generated or why it has reversed its direction so frequently in past geologic time... what stopped and restarted the magnetic reversals and other concurrent processes? Strangely enough, the quiet, anoxic periods do not seem to coincide with biological extinctions!" (Pg. 235)
All of Corliss's "Sourcebook" are stimulating and thought-provoking---the more so, since most of them are taken directly from "respectable" mainstream scientific journals.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1994 book, "The primary purpose of this book is entertainment. Do not look for profundities! All I claim here is an edited collection of naturally occurring anomalies and curiosities that I have winnowed mainly from scientific journals and magazines published between 1976 and 1993." He adds, "I admit freely that this book... harbor(s) a scattering of fraudulent and questionable data. I try to weed these out... On the other hand, I do not apologize for retaining phenomena upon which mainstream science has 'closed the book.'" Unlike many of Corliss's other books, he does not include the entire article, but only short excerpts with his commentary.
For example, he cites an article about the famous Nazca lines in Peru, which says "You do not need to be in an airplane to appreciate the lines; most can be viewed from ground level, even better, from nearby foothills." (Pg. 38) He questions Stephen Jay Gould's argument about the flamingo's "smile" (in The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History), "Why would animals indulge in such bizarre behavior in the first place? A proto-flamingo... would not be very efficient and would probably get a snootful of water in the bargain! A half-flamingoized bill wouldn't be much better." (Pg. 141) He asks, "If we do not understand how present-day peat forms, how can we be so dogmatic about coal-forming processes millions of years ago?" (Pg. 217) He says, "No one really knows just how the terrestrial magnetic field is generated or why it has reversed its direction so frequently in past geologic time... what stopped and restarted the magnetic reversals and other concurrent processes? Strangely enough, the quiet, anoxic periods do not seem to coincide with biological extinctions!" (Pg. 235)
All of Corliss's "Sourcebook" are stimulating and thought-provoking---the more so, since most of them are taken directly from "respectable" mainstream scientific journals.
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