If it is fame we are after, we are doing what we do for the wrong reason.
Mr. Weber had faith in what he was doing so he continued his research even after he was abandoned by his colleagues; even after scientists published articles which discredited his work; and even after his funding was discontinued.
How bittersweet that he is now recognized, after his death.
Associate Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Univ MD, College Park, MD
3 years ago
Indeed, how bittersweet, that Joe Weber is now recognized, after his death.
I was a colleague and friend of Joe, during the years that are described above.
It pleases me very mightily to read this article, and its enthusiastic presentation of Joe and Joe's work and Joe's perseverance. My pleasure is heightened when I read the validation that Kip Thorne is an admirer of Joe Weber.
I always admired Joe, and argued for him, whenever there was negative comment from one or more of our colleagues. Even as he kept on his work of improving both his rod gravitational wave detector system, and his calculations, was he doomed to chase a chimera? Somewhat like Peter O'Toole and Don Quixote, in a certain way Joe was magnificent.
And who knows - it might have paid off.
Whatever, Joe certainly was a pioneer, who led other physicists to start to imagine that Einstein's Gravitational theory did lead to real gravitational waves in the universe that could actually be detected.
Without Joe, the audacity of actually creating LIGO of two 4 km long "rigid rod" laser interferometers separated by 3000 km would surely have been delayed a considerable number of years.
We honor the Wright Brothers, while the names of other pioneers are buried in murky tomes. I so much hope this will not happen to Joe. He deserves better.
I hope that Joe's work will still be cited in the introduction of some of the current gravitational wave professional published journal papers; even as I know that in time Joe will "disappear."
Joe created his own type of "waves" that were later captured by others, more so than nearly all but a minuscule of all funded and published physics journal articles.
Claude Kacser, Associate Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Univ MD, College Park, MD
3 years ago
The previous comment was actually written by
Claude Kacser, Associate Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Univ MD, College Park, MD
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Jennifer
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