(Promotion for Quasars & Pulsars)
But as a scientist, or a philosopher, you are vitally concerned with the foundations of science, and the task of providing an explanation of the quasars is the great test that the basic laws and theories of physical science are today being called upon to meet: a test in which they are failing badly. Indeed, they are so helpless in the face of this challenge that prominent astronomers are finding it necessary to call for a “radical revision” of existing ideas. Under these circumstances it is highly significant that there is an available system of physical theory that can meet this crucial test; one which can furnish a comprehensive and consistent explanation of the quasars and associated phenomena—galactic explosions, pulsars, white dwarf stars, the recession of the galaxies, and so on.
In his new book QUASARS AND PULSARS, D. B. Larson shows that a more detailed development of the general physical theory introduced in his previous publications produces the answers for which the astronomers and the physicists have been searching without success: what these “mysterious” objects are, where they are, how they originated, how long a life span they have, what ultimately becomes of them, how their energy is generated, how the pulsars are related to the quasars, etc. All of these answers are derived by a more detailed study of the logical consequences of the author’s previously published basic postulates as to the nature of space and time, without any additions thereto, and without introducing anything from any other source. It is particularly significant that the work utilizes no ad hoc assumptions of the kind that current theory finds it necessary to invoke before it can even get a bare start toward consideration of the problem—no “quarks”, no “neutron stars”, no “gravitational collapse”, no “super-stars”, no “black holes”, nor any other such figments of the imagination. Furthermore, each of the hitherto unexplained, or inadequately explained, phenomena in this area falls into place in the new theoretical system easily and naturally. In this context the quasars and associated phenomena are not freaks or abnormalities; each plays an essential and meaningful role in the great cycle of physical existence that emerges from the theoretical development.
As in his previous works, the author outlines the entire chain of reasoning from his basic postulates to the specific phenomena under consideration, and the first half of the book is therefore an up-to-date exposition of the fundamentals of the new theoretical system, incorporating all of the advances that have been made since the previous publications. This is not only a book about quasars; more significantly it is a demonstration that the new system of theory is a true and accurate representation of the actual physical universe, and as such is potentially capable of arriving at the answer to any physical problem, even this one that has completely frustrated previous investigators working along traditional lines. The same theoretical approach which the author utilized in his previous works to derive simple and logical explanations of the basic physical phenomena—gravitation, radiation, atomic structure, etc.—is now shown to be equally applicable to the exploration of the regions along the outer boundaries of physical knowledge.
The ability of this theory to penetrate into fields where data from observation are scarce or non-existent is a result of the fact that it is a general physical theory—the first thing of its kind ever formulated—a theory which derives all of its conclusions in all physical fields by logical and mathematical processes from a single set of basic premises, completely independent of the accuracy, or even of the existence, of information derived from observation. This makes it possible to arrive at specific and definite answers not only in areas where the empirical facts are hard to obtain, as in the case of the quasars, but also in areas where they are impossible to obtain, as, for instance, in cosmogony.
From this standpoint, the work should be of interest not only to the astronomers and physicists who are directly involved with the specific subject matter, but to everyone who is concerned about the validity of the ideas and concepts of modern science and their application both to his own field of specialization and to human affairs in general.