View source for 2007-05-22 Dear Michael Shermer

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* '''Date''': [[when posted::2007-05-22]] ([[date posted::2007-05-22]])
* '''Author''': [[author::Blake Stacey]]
* '''Blog''': [[blog::Science After Sunclipse]]
* '''Topics''': [[topic::Michael Shermer]] [[topic::Scientific American]]
* '''Link''': [[URL::http://www.sunclipse.org/?p=104]]
* '''Title''': [[title::Dear Michael Shermer: Physics Matters]]
* '''Summary''': [[summary::{{fmt/quote|The rest of [[Michael Shermer|Shermer]]'s article is pretty darn good. I just hope you'll forgive me for getting riled over elementary physics mistakes in an article by a [[science]] advocate printed in ''[[Scientific American]]''.}}]]
==Excerpt==
<blockquote>
<p>First, you can't <i>fission</i> a <i>hydrogen atom.</i>  You can split one apart, sure &ndash; that means separating the electron from the proton, a process called {{l/wp|ionization}} &ndash; but that <i>requires an energy input,</i> and it isn't in the same category of processes as nuclear reactions.  I wrote a bit of a primer on this [http://snews.bnl.gov/popsci/nuclear-energy.html here]; the short version is that [[Michael Shermer|Shermer]] should have said "nuclear <i>fusion.</i>"  It's not just a different word; it's a different phenomenon, and anybody with a basic science education should know why.  Perhaps it's a small and silly gaffe, akin to writing "male" when one means to write "female," but somebody along the line should have caught it.</p>

<p>Second, merely two sentences later, Shermer confuses <i>magnetic poles</i> with <i>electrical charges.</i>  The latter are denoted "positive" and "negative," but the former are termed "north" and "south." This difference in terminology reflects a very important difference in physics:  isolated plus and minus charges can exist without trouble, but the Universe doesn't appear to be stocked with individual north or south ends of magnets.  Chop a magnet in half, and you get two little magnets, each with its own north <i>and</i> south poles.</p>
<p>Again, this almost appears like a silly terminology error.  Couldn't we just call north poles "positive" and south poles "negative" (or the other way around)?  We could, but the fact is, people generally <i>don't,</i> and with good reason:  poles and charges are different kinds of thing.</p>
</blockquote>