[meteorite-list] Family Claims Meteorite Fell InTheirCourtyardinIndia

From: Chris Peterson <clp_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2007 08:26:38 -0600
Message-ID: <064801c7da91$51859310$a239010a_at_bellatrix>

Hi Martin, Svend-

To be clear, I wasn't referring to Indian meteorite collections, or the
ultimate ability of Indian geologists to discriminate meteorites from
meteorwrongs, but the general understanding of the science behind
meteorite falls. I think there are certain countries that are much more
likely to embrace bad science or pseudoscience (India and Russia come
immediately to mind). That doesn't mean that you don't find good
scientists, but it does mean that it's much easier to encounter people
called "scientists" who are not, at least by most standards. Couple this
with a public and media that is particularly credulous (and in the case
of India, superstitious), and you get some very odd reports.

I've experienced this first hand in India, where I've spent a lot of
time. As an example, when I was in Rajastan for a solar eclipse in 1995,
a "scientist"- from a university- came to our hotel the day before to
distribute information about protecting ourselves from the harmful rays
of eclipsed Sun. Not our eyes, mind you, but ourselves and any exposed
food that could be "poisoned". He recommended that we stay in the hotel
rooms with the curtains drawn until the event was over! A Indian friend
in our party, pregnant at the time, had to work very hard to convince
herself that she wasn't endangering her fetus by watching the eclipse.
She is very well educated, but her cultural bias was difficult to
overcome (the child is healthy and well, living now in Ithaca, NY). Much
of my work in India has been with physicians, and again, it is
remarkable some of the odd beliefs they have, even after years of
medical school in the U.S.

Please don't interpret anything I've said as a slam towards any
individual scientists or institutions. It's just an observation about
the degree to which culture and science can clash- more in some places
than others. I expect that there are others on this list, who have spent
time outside developed countries, who have encountered similar clashes.
And while media stories about suspected meteorite falls tend to be of
poor quality regardless of origin, this is not universally so in the
U.S. or Europe. I do see some pretty good stories, especially follow-up
stories. But I honestly have no recollection of _any_ credible report of
a meteorite fall coming out of India (other than journal articles), and
the media stories tend to show _really_ glaring errors- this most recent
one being a good example (and quite typical, I'm afraid).

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Altmann" <altmann at meteorite-martin.de>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 2:02 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Family Claims Meteorite Fell
InTheirCourtyardinIndia


Hi Chris,

and exactely Svend,

India has a long collecting tradition that rivals that from European
countries. That it also the reason for Indian falls ranking among the
most
expensive meteorites in Cohen's and Ward's price lists.

Perhaps the list-member of India can give us some more historical hints
here.

Best,
Martin
Received on Thu 09 Aug 2007 10:26:38 AM PDT