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The stub below ought to be dipped in bronze. Concocted by a Wikipedia ADMINISTRATOR(!) who was inspired by another such worthy, it realizes the ultimate Rawlins biography dreamed of throughout the last six years of unbroken harassment (see the biog's History) by certain weirdly persistent and organized vandals who will never forgive Rawlins for his "sTARBABY" exposure THIRTY THREE YEARS AGO of "professionally skeptical" CSICOP's technical and ethical lapses. This joke-biog's obsessive imbalance in favor of the CSICOP-related 1% of Rawlins's writings is unselfconsciously and felicitously revealing of the harassment's source, its goal, and the present doleful state of Wikipedia administration. Some idea of the variety, prominence, span, and professional recognition of Rawlins's accomplishments — doubtless inadvertently omitted below — can be gotten by consultation of either the back cover of any [http://www.dioi.org/dioind.htm issue] of the U.S.' leading astronomical history journal ''DIO'' of which Rawlins is founder and publisher (a fact unmentioned in the new biog, whose editor carefully eliminated the word "publisher" from the previous version) or from the WP biography's [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dennis_Rawlins&diff=next&oldid=197200796 state] before an astronomically incompetent CSICOP-soldier Administrator began trashing it on March 10 2008, calling (Rawlins WP Talk) Rawlins's achievements "stuff", then on July 23 2008 calling them "junk" while [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php/title=Dennis_Rawlins&idff=prev&oldid=227924805 threatening] to turn the biog into a stub. He deserves congratulations on his present success, if not his educability — the whole "sTARBABY" affair's origin was CSICOP's threatening of Rawlins to shut him up. Would CSICOP itself now contend that that was wise?


'''Dennis Rawlins''' (born 1937) is an American astronomer and historian who has built a reputation as a "professional skeptic" concerning astronomical and other claims. In his first book, ''Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction?'' (1973), he argued that [[Robert Peary]] never made it to the [[North Pole]] at all. His second book was a catalog of all the stars observed by [[Tycho Brahe]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/1996-06-02/living/25627900_1_dennis-rawlins-physics-teacher-north-pole|title=Prober's Claim To Fame Is Refuting Adm. Byrd's: Dennis Rawlins Makes A Case The North Pole Was Missed|last=O'Brien|first=Ellen|date=2 June 1996|work=[[Philadelphia Media Network]]|accessdate=12 September 2014}}</ref> In 1976, as the only astronomer on the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]], he looked into and debunked the so-called [[Mars effect]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cherfas|first=Jeremy|date=29 October 1981|title=Paranormal-watchers fall out over the Mars effect|journal=[[New Scientist]]|page=294|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Gfh9AnIDxS8C&pg=PA294}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kurtz|first=Paul|title=Skepticism and Humanism: The New Paradigm|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=q34zdaoq0xIC&pg=PA89|publisher=Transaction|isbn=9781412834117|pages=89–90}}</ref> In 1996 he made headlines by publishing a report stating that [[Richard E. Byrd]] never managed to reach the North Pole but stopped short 150 miles from the pole.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-05-15/news/1996136125_1_dennis-rawlins-richard-byrd-north-pole|title=Polar hero Byrd on thin ice? Doubter: Dennis Rawlins' report that explorer Richard Byrd did not fly over the North Pole has put the Baltimore scholar in the middle of controversy|last=Timberg|first=Craig|date=15 May 1996|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|accessdate=12 September 2014}}</ref>
'''Dennis Rawlins''' (born 1937) is an American astronomer and historian who has built a reputation as a "professional skeptic" concerning astronomical and other claims. In his first book, ''Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction?'' (1973), he argued that [[Robert Peary]] never made it to the [[North Pole]] at all. His second book was a catalog of all the stars observed by [[Tycho Brahe]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/1996-06-02/living/25627900_1_dennis-rawlins-physics-teacher-north-pole|title=Prober's Claim To Fame Is Refuting Adm. Byrd's: Dennis Rawlins Makes A Case The North Pole Was Missed|last=O'Brien|first=Ellen|date=2 June 1996|work=[[Philadelphia Media Network]]|accessdate=12 September 2014}}</ref> In 1976, as the only astronomer on the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]], he looked into and debunked the so-called [[Mars effect]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cherfas|first=Jeremy|date=29 October 1981|title=Paranormal-watchers fall out over the Mars effect|journal=[[New Scientist]]|page=294|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Gfh9AnIDxS8C&pg=PA294}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kurtz|first=Paul|title=Skepticism and Humanism: The New Paradigm|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=q34zdaoq0xIC&pg=PA89|publisher=Transaction|isbn=9781412834117|pages=89–90}}</ref> In 1996 he made headlines by publishing a report stating that [[Richard E. Byrd]] never managed to reach the North Pole but stopped short 150 miles from the pole.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-05-15/news/1996136125_1_dennis-rawlins-richard-byrd-north-pole|title=Polar hero Byrd on thin ice? Doubter: Dennis Rawlins' report that explorer Richard Byrd did not fly over the North Pole has put the Baltimore scholar in the middle of controversy|last=Timberg|first=Craig|date=15 May 1996|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|accessdate=12 September 2014}}</ref>

Revision as of 21:45, 17 September 2014

Dennis Rawlins
Born1937 (age 86–87)
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Astronomer, historian

The stub below ought to be dipped in bronze. Concocted by a Wikipedia ADMINISTRATOR(!) who was inspired by another such worthy, it realizes the ultimate Rawlins biography dreamed of throughout the last six years of unbroken harassment (see the biog's History) by certain weirdly persistent and organized vandals who will never forgive Rawlins for his "sTARBABY" exposure THIRTY THREE YEARS AGO of "professionally skeptical" CSICOP's technical and ethical lapses. This joke-biog's obsessive imbalance in favor of the CSICOP-related 1% of Rawlins's writings is unselfconsciously and felicitously revealing of the harassment's source, its goal, and the present doleful state of Wikipedia administration. Some idea of the variety, prominence, span, and professional recognition of Rawlins's accomplishments — doubtless inadvertently omitted below — can be gotten by consultation of either the back cover of any issue of the U.S.' leading astronomical history journal DIO of which Rawlins is founder and publisher (a fact unmentioned in the new biog, whose editor carefully eliminated the word "publisher" from the previous version) or from the WP biography's state before an astronomically incompetent CSICOP-soldier Administrator began trashing it on March 10 2008, calling (Rawlins WP Talk) Rawlins's achievements "stuff", then on July 23 2008 calling them "junk" while threatening to turn the biog into a stub. He deserves congratulations on his present success, if not his educability — the whole "sTARBABY" affair's origin was CSICOP's threatening of Rawlins to shut him up. Would CSICOP itself now contend that that was wise?

Dennis Rawlins (born 1937) is an American astronomer and historian who has built a reputation as a "professional skeptic" concerning astronomical and other claims. In his first book, Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction? (1973), he argued that Robert Peary never made it to the North Pole at all. His second book was a catalog of all the stars observed by Tycho Brahe.[1] In 1976, as the only astronomer on the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, he looked into and debunked the so-called Mars effect.[2][3] In 1996 he made headlines by publishing a report stating that Richard E. Byrd never managed to reach the North Pole but stopped short 150 miles from the pole.[4]

Selected works

  • Rawlins, Dennis (1973). Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction?. Washington: Robert B. Luce. ISBN 0883310422.

References

  1. ^ O'Brien, Ellen (2 June 1996). "Prober's Claim To Fame Is Refuting Adm. Byrd's: Dennis Rawlins Makes A Case The North Pole Was Missed". Philadelphia Media Network. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  2. ^ Cherfas, Jeremy (29 October 1981). "Paranormal-watchers fall out over the Mars effect". New Scientist: 294.
  3. ^ Kurtz, Paul. Skepticism and Humanism: The New Paradigm. Transaction. pp. 89–90. ISBN 9781412834117.
  4. ^ Timberg, Craig (15 May 1996). "Polar hero Byrd on thin ice? Doubter: Dennis Rawlins' report that explorer Richard Byrd did not fly over the North Pole has put the Baltimore scholar in the middle of controversy". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  • http://www.dioi.org/cot.htm DIO online, a compendium of several hundred of Rawlins's contributions.
  • Starbaby by Dennis Rawlins, originally published in Fate Magazine, October 1981

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