Tom Van Flandern
Tom Van Flandern | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 26, 1940 |
| Died | January 9, 2009 |
| Residence | Sequim, WA, United States |
| Nationality | USA |
| Known for | gravity, relativity, cosmology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomer |
Thomas Charles "Tom" Van Flandern received his Ph.D. degree in Astronomy, specializing in celestial mechanics (the theory of orbits), from Yale University in 1969. He spent 21 years (1963-1983) at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., where he became the Chief of the Celestial Mechanics Branch of the Nautical Almanac Office.
During the past decade, Tom was a Research Associate at the Univ. of Maryland Physics Department in College Park, MD, and a consultant to the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD, working on improving the accuracy of the Global Positioning System (GPS). He and his wife moved to Sequim in 2005 to be nearer children and grandchildren and enjoy the beauty of the Pacific NW.
In 1991, Tom helped form an astronomy research organization, Meta Research, to foster inquiry into worthy ideas not otherwise supported solely because they conflict with mainstream theories in astronomy. Among the organization's significant contributions are:
- Evidence against the Big Bang and for a better theory of the origin and nature of the universe
- Experimental evidence that gravity propagates much faster than light, and a new model for the origin and nature of gravity
- Prediction of asteroid and comet satellites years before their discovery
- New evidence favoring the exploded planet hypothesis, and new models for the origin of asteroids, comets, and the solar system
- Strong hints that certain anomalies seen on Mars are not of natural origin
Tom edited the Meta Research Bulletin, specializing in reporting anomalies and evidence that do not fit standard theories in astronomy. He also authored the book "Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets" about his original astronomy research, and organized astronomical expeditions to solar eclipses, meteor storms and other celestial events.
During his career as a professional research astronomer, Tom was honored by a prize from the Gravity Research Foundation; served on the Council of American Astronomical Society's Division on Dynamical Astronomy; taught astronomy at the University of South Florida and to Navy Department employees acted as consultant to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab; and did several spots for the "Project Universe" series for public TV.
Articles:
- Mon. Nat. R. Astron. Soc., V170, pp. 333-342 (1975).
- "The Speed of Gravity ? What the Experiments Say" OR "Propagation of Gravity has been Experimentally Shown to Exceed the Speed of Light," Physics Letters A, V250, N1-3, pp. 1-11 (1998).
- "Experimental Repeal of the Speed Limit for Gravitational, Electrodynamic, and Quantum Field Interactions," Foundations of Physics, V32, N7, pp. 1031-1068 (2002). (with J.P. Vigier)
Abstracts
- 2008 - "Big Bang Reaches Deflation Stage"
- 2008 - "Properties of Geodesics: Resolving an Apparent Conflict of Global Positioning System Evidence with General Relativity "
- 2007 - "Global Positioning System and the Twins' Paradox "
- 2005 - "The Top 50 Problems with the Big Bang"
- 2003 - "What the Global Positioning System Tells Us about the Twin?s Paradox" (Read in full)
- 2003 - "Does Gravity Have Inertia?" (Read in full)
- 2003 - "Lorentz Contraction"
- 2003 - "21st Century Gravity (A Deeper Understanding of Why Apples Fall from Trees)"
- 2002 - "Experimental Repeal of the Speed Limit for Gravitational, Electrodynamic, and Quantum Field Interactions"
- 2002 - "The Top 30 Problems with the Big Bang" (Read in full)
- 2002 - "A Universe Older Than Itself?" (Read in full)
- 2000 - "A Complete Relativistic Gravity Model with No Speed-of-Light Limit"
- 2000 - "Mass Variation in Relation to the GPS"
- 1999 - "Physics Has its Principles "
- 1999 - "The Speed of Gravity - What the experiments Say"
- 1998 - "The Speed of Gravity: An Experimental Contradiction of Einstein's Special Relativity"
- 1998 - "The Speed of Gravity ? What the Experiments Say"
- 1997 - "What the Global Positioning System Tells Us about Relativity"
- 1997 - "GPS and the Twins Paradox"
- 1997 - "Implications of Relativity Without Einstein Synchronization in the GPS"
- 1997 - "New Evidence of Artificiality at Cydonia on Mars" (Read in full)
- 1997 - "The Original Solar System (Revised)" (Read in full)
- 1996 - "Another Aftershock for the Big Bang" (Read in full)
- 1995 - "A Revision of the Exploded Planet Hypothesis" (Read in full)
- 1994 - "Did the Universe have a Beginning?" (Read in full)
- 1993 - "On the "Speed of Gravity""
- 1978 - "A Former Asteroidal Planet as the Origin of Comets"
Books
- 1998 - "Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets: Paradoxes Resolved, Origins Illuminated" (Read in full)
Media
- 2008 - Speed of Gravity (Audio Podcast)
- 2005 - LeSage Push Gravity & Alt Cosmology (Audio Radio)
