View source for Harry Hamlin Ricker

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Harry Hamlin Ricker
| image = Harry Hamlin Ricker 501.jpg
| alt = Harry Hamlin Ricker
| birth_date = {{birth date|1948|05|15|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Newport News, Virginia, United States
| fields = [[Electrical Engineer]]
| residence = Newport News, VA, United States
| nationality = USA
| known_for = [[Special Relativity]], [[Electromagnetism]], [[History of Science]], [[Philosophy of Science]], [[Astronomy]], [[Astrophysics]]
}}

'''Harry Hamlin Ricker III''' (born May 15, 1948), known to his friends as Harry, is an American electrical engineer, amateur astronomer, and dissident-science writer from Newport News, Virginia. After a career in radio-interference analysis, missile tracking, and satellite communications, he became a prolific critic of Einstein's [[Special Relativity|special theory of relativity]] and a student of the history of electricity and magnetism. He is best known for his long "Herbert Dingle Was Correct!" series of papers, his analyses of the "Light Sphere Paradox" and the "irksomeness" of relativity, and his work popularizing the anti-Einstein arguments of Carl A. Zapffe and Louis Essen. He also writes on astronomy, cosmology, and American Civil War history, and takes part in the online Cosmology discussion sessions.

==Biography==

Harry Hamlin Ricker III was born in Newport News, Virginia on May 15, 1948. He attended schools in Newport News and graduated from Homer L. Ferguson High School in 1966. He entered Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University majoring in electrical engineering, following the profession of his father, who was a NASA engineer at Langley Field, Virginia. His interest in electronics was inspired by his childhood hobby of amateur radio, which later led to a lifelong passion for the study of electromagnetic theory, antennas, and radio systems. In 1971 he received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1970 he began graduate studies in electrical engineering at the University of New Hampshire, and received his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1972.

His first employer was I.I.T. Research Institute, a contractor for the Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis Center in Annapolis, Maryland. His work there involved developing models for the analysis of radio interference involving radar and terrestrial communications systems. In 1975 he left to work at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as a contractor doing missile tracking analysis. This involved working in the new field of tracking systems that would become the present GPS. In 1979 he went to work at Communications Satellite Corporation, where he worked on systems design for satellite communications. He continued in this business working for GTE Spacenet Corp from 1989 until 1994, when he retired from full-time employment and became an engineering consultant. His consulting business is New Millenium Electrodynamics. Ricker's expertise in digital communications stressed the setting up of clocks for system timing and the coordination of clocks, a discipline that would prove useful later in his studies of special relativity.

While working at Johns Hopkins and living in Columbia, Maryland, Ricker studied creative writing at the local community college. This initiated a lifelong interest in writing. He has written and published articles on the American Civil War, another of his hobbies. His particular interest is the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, and he has written an extensive historical analysis of the neglected Battle of Williamsburg of May 5, 1862.

Ricker's first dissident scientific paper was titled "Report on the Discovery of Interstellar Dust Filaments." It reflected his interest in astronomy and astrophysics, which had been stimulated by his astronomy classes in college. Over the years he has owned a number of telescopes and remains an active amateur astronomer. The paper on dust filaments was inspired by an interest in collecting astrophotographs and studying them. Morphology, the study of forms, had not been systematically applied to interstellar dust formations, and Ricker undertook such a study. The results were not well received, as they contradicted the accepted view that the interstellar medium is a diffuse gas with interspersed puffy clouds; Ricker argues that the dust filaments are more like cirrus clouds than the cumulus clouds required for star formation.

Around 1990 Ricker's interest shifted to electromagnetic theory. This was inspired by the papers of [[Ivor Catt]] that appeared in ''Wireless World'', which suggested a different way to view the theory of electricity and magnetism. This inspired an investigation of the history of magnetism and electricity, a study that (in his view) revealed a number of new insights, including theories of magnetism in the pre-Socratic Greek period and the Middle Ages.

Around 1995, as a result of his studies in electricity and magnetism, Ricker began an investigation of the special theory of relativity and concluded that the theory did not really fit into electromagnetic theory as claimed by the textbooks. This initiated a detailed analysis of relativity which resulted in his rejecting the theory as false and misleading, and in his development of an alternative approach that he claims eliminates its contradictions, paradoxes, and conclusions he regards as absurd.

==Views and research==

Ricker is a prolific dissident writer whose work has been published on the Natural Philosophy Wiki and the John Chappell Natural Philosophy Society (naturalphilosophy.org), the General Science Journal (gsjournal.net), mrelativity.net, and the ''Beyond Mainstream'' online magazine. His writing spans several recurring themes:

* '''Special relativity.''' Ricker argues that Einstein's special theory of relativity is internally contradictory. In his "Light Sphere Paradox" papers he contends that the postulate of the constancy of the speed of light in all inertial frames leads to a self-contradiction, which he takes as evidence that the theory rests on "false mathematics." He describes the theory as "irksome"—individually plausible steps that, taken together, yield conclusions he considers irrational—and has written papers he titles as refutations of time dilation, length contraction, the velocity-addition law, and the Lorentz transformation as Einstein interpreted them.

* '''Herbert Dingle.''' Much of Ricker's relativity work defends the physicist and philosopher [[Herbert Dingle]], who argued that the reciprocity of the Lorentz transformation implies that each of two relatively moving clocks must run slower than the other, which he held to be impossible. In his multi-part "Herbert Dingle Was Correct!" series, Ricker argues that Dingle correctly identified an inconsistency in the kinematic part of Einstein's 1905 paper, and he has responded at length to physicists who defended relativity against Dingle.

* '''Carl Zapffe and Louis Essen.''' Ricker has worked to publicize the anti-Einstein arguments of the metallurgist Carl A. Zapffe (including Zapffe's "Flying Interferometer" thought experiment and his epistemological critique of relativity) and of Louis Essen, the inventor of the atomic clock, who rejected relativity late in his life. Ricker has published commentary on Essen's correspondence with Zapffe.

* '''Electromagnetism and its history.''' Following [[Ivor Catt]], Ricker favors a transmission-line ("reciprocating energy") view of electricity over the conventional static-charge picture, and he engages with the "Catt Question" about where charge resides in a propagating electromagnetic step. He has written a series on the history of magnetism, from the pre-Socratic Greeks and William Gilbert onward.

* '''Astronomy and cosmology.''' An active amateur astronomer, Ricker interprets photographs of the interstellar medium as showing thread-like "dust filaments" (which he likens to cobwebs), and he is skeptical of mainstream accounts of star formation, supermassive black holes, and standard cosmology. He presents talks on these subjects in the online Cosmology discussion sessions hosted on [[Roger J Anderton]]'s YouTube channel.

==Articles==

* Added Oct. 8, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker44.pdf Maxwell's Displacement Current]
* Added Sep. 7, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker43.pdf Report on the Discovery of Interstellar Dust Filaments]
* Added Sep. 2, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker42.pdf Dr. Carl Zapffe's Epistemological Analysis of Einstein's Theory of Relativity]
* Added Aug. 22, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/rickeressen.pdf Letter from Louis Essen to Carl A Zapffe: Ricker Commentary]
* Added Jul. 17, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker41.pdf Einstein's Time Dilation Experiment]
* Added Jul. 13, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker40.pdf Dr. Carl Zapffe's Flying Interferometer Experiment]
* Added Jul. 8, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker39.pdf The Irksomeness of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity]
* Added Apr. 25, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker38.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part XIII]
* Added Apr. 24, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker37.pdf Correct Solution of the Right Angle Lever Paradox of Special Relativity]
* Added Apr. 10, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker36.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part XII]
* Added Apr. 10, 2008: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker35.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part X]
* Added Dec. 18, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker34.pdf Peter Lynds' Criticism of Physical Time]
* Added Jul. 20, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker33.pdf The Symmetry Group of Electromagnetic Wave Reflections on Transmission Lines]
* Added Jun. 18, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker32.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part XI]
* Added Apr. 15, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker31.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part IX]
* Updated Mar. 11, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker30.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part VIII]
* Added Mar. 3, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/rickerint.pdf An Introduction to Dr. Carl A. Zapffe's Classic Paper]
* Added Mar. 3, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/rickerzap.pdf Dr. Carl A. Zapffe: On Energy-Mass Equivalence, Mass Increase, Muon Decay and Time Dilation]
* Added Feb. 17, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker29.pdf Why No Einstein's Laws? Part V]
* Added Feb. 4, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker28.pdf Why No Einstein's Laws? Part IV]
* Added Jan. 29, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker27.pdf Why No Einstein's Laws? Part III]
* Added Jan. 19, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker26.pdf Why No Einstein's Laws? Part II]
* Added Jan. 10, 2007: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker25.pdf Why No Einstein's Laws?]
* Added Nov. 15, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker24.pdf Dr. Carl Andrew Zapffe: A "Cod" Proposes a "Flying Interferometer"]
* Added Sep. 25, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker23.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part VII]
* Added Sep. 22, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker22.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part VI]
* Added Sep. 19, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker21.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part III]
* Added Sep. 13, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker20.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part V]
* Added Sep. 7, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker19.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part IV]
* Added Aug. 21, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker18.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct! Part II]
* Added Aug. 15, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker17.pdf A Contradiction is Not a Paradox]
* Added Aug. 2, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker16.pdf Einstein's False Derivation of Time Dilation]
* Added Aug. 1, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker15.pdf Einstein's False Interpretation of the Velocity Addition Law]
* Added Jul. 31, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker14.pdf Einstein's False Interpretation of Lorentz Transformations]
* Added Jul. 25, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker13.pdf Einstein's False Derivation of Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction]
* Added Jun. 29, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker11.pdf Herbert Dingle Was Correct!]
* Added Jun. 29, 2006: [http://wbabin.net/science/ricker12.pdf Correct Solution of the Right Angle Lever Paradox of Special Relativity]
* Updated Jul. 25, 2005: [http://wbabin.net/science/rickerp.pdf A History of Magnetism]
* Added Mar. 31, 2005: [http://wbabin.net/physics/ricker3.pdf Light Velocity is a Ratio, It Cannot be Absolute]
* Updated Mar. 31, 2005: [http://wbabin.net/physics/ricker2.pdf Refutation of The Length Contraction And Time Dilation Conclusions of Einstein's Special Theory Of Relativity]
* Added Mar. 14, 2005: [http://wbabin.net/physics/ricker1.htm Correct Derivation Of Lorentz Transforms Eliminates Contradictions Of Einstein's Relativity]

===Articles on Beyond Mainstream===

Articles published on the ''Beyond Mainstream'' website ([https://beyondmainstream.org/author/hricker/ author archive]):

* [https://beyondmainstream.org/the-catt-question-background/ The Catt Question Background]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/roger-boscovich-modern-physical-science-versus-natural-philosophy/ Roger Boscovich – Modern Physical Science Versus Natural Philosophy]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/the-wakefield-experiments-background-and-motivation/ The Wakefield Experiments Background and Motivation]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/dr-carl-andrew-zapffe-extraordinary-anti-einsteinian/ Dr. Carl Andrew Zapffe: Extraordinary Anti-Einsteinian]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/john-e-chappell-jr-creator-of-the-dissident-science-revolution/ John E. Chappell Jr. Creator Of the Dissident Science Revolution]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/dr-louis-essen-inventor-of-the-atomic-clock-rejects-einsteins-relativity-theory/ Dr Louis Essen Inventor Of Atomic Clock Rejects Einstein's Relativity Theory]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/what-happened-to-the-principle-of-relativity/ What Happened To The Principle Of Relativity?]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/special-relativity-is-irksome/ Special Relativity Is Irksome]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/catt-question-letter/ Catt Question Letter]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/cobwebs-of-space-discovery-and-interpretation-of-interstellar-dust-filaments/ Cobwebs Of Space: Discovery and Interpretation Of Interstellar Dust Filaments]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/foreground-milky-way-dust-filaments-in-galaxy-photographs/ Foreground Milky Way Dust Filaments In Galaxy Photographs]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/review-of-nova-program-the-great-math-mystery/ Review Of NOVA Program The Great Math Mystery]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/supermassive-black-holes-more-fiction-than-scientific-fact/ Supermassive Black Holes More Fiction Than Scientific Fact]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/herbert-dingle-maverick-scientist-and-anti-einstein-philosopher-of-science/ Herbert Dingle Maverick Scientist and Anti-Einstein Philosopher Of Science]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/the-delusion-of-particle-fever/ The Delusion Of Particle Fever]
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/pioneering-introduction-to-the-social-revolution-in-science/ Pioneering Introduction to the Social Revolution in Science]

==Abstracts==

* 2012 - "[[Glenn Baxter Radio Interview]]"
* 2011 - "[[Empirical Verification of Time Dilation in Special Relativity]]" ([http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/pdf/abstracts/abstracts_5988.pdf Read in full])
* 2009 - "[[On Physical Time]]" ([http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/pdf/abstracts/abstracts_4467.pdf Read in full])
* 2008 - "[[Twelve Arguments that Einstein's Theory is False]]" ([http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dgn898fn_14fcwd9sd7&hl=en Read in full])
* 2008 - "[[The Changing Nature of Centrifugal Force]]" ([http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dgn898fn_28c68s83hj&hl=en Read in full])
* 2008 - "[[What Is Electricity?]]" ([http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgn898fn_6c85c99hf&hl=en Read in full])
* 2008 - "[[Empirical verification Of Geometry]]" ([http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dgn898fn_7gkxpt7fr&hl=en Read in full])
* 2003 - "[[Dr. Adrian Sfarti's "Famous Errors"]]" ([http://www.mrelativity.net/Papers/18/ASFARTIrev.pdf Read in full])
* 1994 - "[[Battle Of Williamsburg]]" ([http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dgn898fn_1c7tckrdp&hl=en Read in full])
* 1977 - "[[Report On The Discovery Of Interstellar Dust Filaments]]" ([http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/pdf/abstracts/abstracts_324.pdf Read in full])

==Media==

* 2010 - [http://www.worldsci.org/videos/dimdim/event_324_dimdim.flv Time, Space, Motion, Metaphysics, and Natural Philosophy] (Video Lecture)
* 2010 - [http://www.worldsci.org/videos/HarryRickerRelativity_1.wmv Harry Rickers Comments on Relativity Discussion Group] (Video Commentary)
* 2010 - [http://www.worldsci.org/videos/dimdim/event_282_dimdim.flv Relativity Group Meeting] (Video Group Meeting)
* 2009 - [http://www.worldsci.org/videos/dimdim/event_271_dimdim.flv Relativity Group Meeting] (Video Group Meeting)

==CNPS talks==

He has presented in the CNPS online seminar series:

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXLUjEsC27I "Topics In Modern Cosmology"] (2 November 2024)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLdo777xaiM "The Cosmic Microwave Background CMB"] (5 October 2024)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpfm3L1_Kiw "Lambda CDM Cosmology Overview and Roundtable Discussion"] (21 September 2024)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7nIKbwYgJk "Faraday's Experiments in Electromagnetic Induction"] (8 January 2023)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olUbOJMXuVo "Faraday's Experiments in Electromagnetic Induction"] (11 December 2022)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xYrZQFAI0I "Electromagnetic Induction"] (27 November 2022)

==YouTube Videos==

Talks presented in the Cosmology discussion sessions on [[Roger J Anderton]]'s YouTube channel ([https://www.youtube.com/@rogeranderton418 @rogeranderton418]):

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhqpCJSm_LU Moon Mysteries] (28 June 2026)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAqvO7qYvt8 Galactic Nebulae, Star Formation, and Their Relation to Cosmology Paradigms] (14 June 2026)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNr1KFQV3Rw Galactic Nebulae, Star Formation, and Their Relation to Cosmology Paradigms] (7 June 2026)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT4FfvvSoM8 Stars of Fire: A New Approach to Star Formation] (24 May 2026)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9TqzSpnlfo Quantum Cosmology] (22 February 2026)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZd0Q9A4pkY Talk on Roger Rydin's Big Wave Cosmology] (11 January 2026)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMKPaV807Jc Talk on Carl Andrew Zapffe] (14 December 2025)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-y27s6sCNc Lorentz Transformations Not Uniquely Defined] (30 November 2025)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALUdbd9-ZxU What is Space? (Part 2)] (16 November 2025)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pratq6jGNI Continuing with Fixing Einstein's Math] (27 July 2025)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9S4ocmIS9Y Fixing Einstein's Math, Part 2: Examples from Einstein's Papers] (20 July 2025)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLOnO40IKzo Fixing Einstein's Relativity Mistakes] (22 June 2025)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c8X38P1hsY A Stationary or Static Universe] (with Ian Cowan)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsoONgxXcZw Radioastronomy]

==External links==

* [https://www.naturalphilosophy.org/site/harryricker/ Harry Ricker III] – author profile, John Chappell Natural Philosophy Society (naturalphilosophy.org)
* [https://beyondmainstream.org/author/hricker/ Harry Ricker] – author archive at ''Beyond Mainstream''
* [https://www.gsjournal.net/Science-Journals-Papers/Author/327/H.H.,%20Ricker%20III H.H. Ricker III] – papers at the General Science Journal
* [https://www.mrelativity.net/Papers/18/Ricker.htm Herbert Dingle Was Correct!] – article at mrelativity.net

[[Category:Scientist|Ricker Harry]]
[[Category:Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists]]

[[Category:Philosophy of Science]]

[[Category:Astronomy]]

[[Category:Electromagnetism]]