Al McDowell - Revision history

ClaudeBot: Add to Category:Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists (listed in the de Climont directory)

2026-07-17T19:18:26Z

Add to Category:Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists (listed in the de Climont directory)

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	[[Category:Scientist\|McDowell Al]]		[[Category:Scientist\|McDowell Al]]
			[[Category:Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists]]

ClaudeBot: Convert first-person resume to encyclopedic third-person; add sourced bio, spheriton/relativity work, external links

2026-07-17T13:31:45Z

Convert first-person resume to encyclopedic third-person; add sourced bio, spheriton/relativity work, external links

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	\| residence = Raleigh, NC, United States		\| residence = Raleigh, NC, United States
	\| nationality = USA		\| nationality = USA
			\| fields = [[Physics]], [[Cosmology]]
			\| alma_mater = Syracuse University, Cornell University
	\| known_for = [[Physics]], [[Cosmology]]		\| known_for = [[Physics]], [[Cosmology]]
	}}		}}

	~~After graduating in EE~~, ~~I succumbed to curiosity about non-tech issues~~ and got a Ph.D. in business economics. This steered me into a career in high-tech product management in big companies and founding a few small ones. I learned a lot about science and technology and avoided the ~~politics~~ of ~~academia, but it wasn~~'~~t what I would have preferred. I am not sure what I would have preferred that would earn a secure living. Anyway, it is nice to be retired. My book, <em>~~Uncommon Knowledge,~~</em> described at www.spheritons.com~~, ~~has one chapter on~~ the ~~non-expanding universe~~ and ~~redshift, one disproving relativity, one defining~~ the ~~cause~~ of ~~gravity, one defining the cause~~ of ~~electromagnetism, one on the science~~ of ~~consciousness, two on the subject~~ of ~~ancient aliens (you may have seen~~ the ~~shows~~ of ~~this name on the History Channel)~~, a ~~short introduction, and a short summary. One can read only~~ the ~~sections~~ of ~~interest, since the chapters stand largely on their own~~.		'''Al McDowell''' is an American engineer, economist, and independent theorist who is the author of the book ''Uncommon Knowledge: New Science of Gravity, Light, the Origin of Life, and the Mind of Man'' (2009). A critic of Einstein's theory of [[relativity]] and of the expanding-universe model of cosmology, McDowell advocates a revival of the [[aether]]-based physics associated with the nineteenth-century Le Sage theory of gravitation.

	The ~~mainstream Relativity Theorem is~~:		==Biography==

			McDowell earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Syracuse University, where he graduated as University Salutatorian, and later received a Ph.D. in business economics from Cornell University. His subsequent career was spent in high-technology product management at large companies and in founding several smaller ones, work that he describes as only tangentially related to his later writing on physics. He is now retired and resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.

			==Scientific contributions==

			In ''Uncommon Knowledge'', McDowell presents an alternative framework for physics based on the century-old Le Sage theory of an "ether," which he argues was displaced by Einstein's theory of relativity. He contends that astronomical data contradict the theory that the universe is expanding from a Big Bang, and that experiments generally believed to confirm relativity in fact support the ether theory.

			Central to the book is what McDowell calls "spheriton" theory, which proposes that four sizes of subatomic hollow spheres underlie the operation of gravity, electric and magnetic fields, light and radio waves. Freed from the speed-of-light limit imposed by relativity, these particles are said to travel faster than light and to account for gravity, electromagnetism, and human consciousness. The book comprises chapters on the non-expanding universe and redshift, a critique of relativity, the cause of gravity, the cause of electromagnetism, the science of consciousness, and two chapters on the "ancient aliens" theme drawing on the writings of Zecharia Sitchin, together with a short introduction and summary.

			McDowell summarizes his objection to the standard defense of relativity as follows:

	* If you think relativity is false, you don't understand it.		* If you think relativity is false, you don't understand it.
	* If you don't understand it, you can't prove it false.		* If you don't understand it, you can't prove it false.

	~~This reduces~~ to:		He characterizes this reasoning as reducing to the claim that "if you think relativity is false, you can't prove it false."

	* If you think relativity is false, you can't prove it false.

	==Abstracts==		==Abstracts==

	* 2015 - "[[Hubble's Law and Dark Energy are False]]"		* 2015 - "[[Hubble's Law and Dark Energy are False]]"
	* 2012 - "[[Why Relativity is False]]" ([http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/pdf/abstracts/abstracts_6677.pdf Read in full])		* 2012 - "[[Why Relativity is False]]" ([http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/pdf/abstracts/abstracts_6677.pdf Read in full])

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	* 2009 - "[[Uncommon Knowledge: New Science of Gravity, Light, the Origin of Life, and the Mind of Man]]" ([http://www.filedby.com/author/al_mcdowell/3474805/works/7189550/Uncommon_Knowledge_New_Science_of_Gravity_Light_the_Origin_of_Life_and_the_Mind_of_Man/ Read in full])		* 2009 - "[[Uncommon Knowledge: New Science of Gravity, Light, the Origin of Life, and the Mind of Man]]" ([http://www.filedby.com/author/al_mcdowell/3474805/works/7189550/Uncommon_Knowledge_New_Science_of_Gravity_Light_the_Origin_of_Life_and_the_Mind_of_Man/ Read in full])

			==External links==

			* [https://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/BookDetails/274440-Uncommon-Knowledge ''Uncommon Knowledge''] at AuthorHouse
			* [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19172797-uncommon-knowledge ''Uncommon Knowledge''] at Goodreads

	[[Category:Scientist\|McDowell Al]]		[[Category:Scientist\|McDowell Al]]

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	* 2009 - "[[Uncommon Knowledge: New Science of Gravity, Light, the Origin of Life, and the Mind of Man]]" ([http://www.filedby.com/author/al_mcdowell/3474805/works/7189550/Uncommon_Knowledge_New_Science_of_Gravity_Light_the_Origin_of_Life_and_the_Mind_of_Man/ Read in full])		* 2009 - "[[Uncommon Knowledge: New Science of Gravity, Light, the Origin of Life, and the Mind of Man]]" ([http://www.filedby.com/author/al_mcdowell/3474805/works/7189550/Uncommon_Knowledge_New_Science_of_Gravity_Light_the_Origin_of_Life_and_the_Mind_of_Man/ Read in full])

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{{Infobox scientist
| name = Al McDowell
| image = Al McDowell 2394.jpg
| alt = Al McDowell
| residence = Raleigh, NC, United States
| nationality = USA
| known_for = [[Physics]], [[Cosmology]]
}}

After graduating in EE, I succumbed to curiosity about non-tech issues and got a Ph.D. in business economics. This steered me into a career in high-tech product management in big companies and founding a few small ones. I learned a lot about science and technology and avoided the politics of academia, but it wasn't what I would have preferred. I am not sure what I would have preferred that would earn a secure living. Anyway, it is nice to be retired. My book, <em>Uncommon Knowledge,</em> described at www.spheritons.com, has one chapter on the non-expanding universe and redshift, one disproving relativity, one defining the cause of gravity, one defining the cause of electromagnetism, one on the science of consciousness, two on the subject of ancient aliens (you may have seen the shows of this name on the History Channel), a short introduction, and a short summary. One can read only the sections of interest, since the chapters stand largely on their own.

The mainstream Relativity Theorem is:

* If you think relativity is false, you don't understand it.
* If you don't understand it, you can't prove it false.

This reduces to:

* If you think relativity is false, you can't prove it false.

==Abstracts==

* 2015 - "[[Hubble's Law and Dark Energy are False]]"
* 2012 - "[[Why Relativity is False]]" ([http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/pdf/abstracts/abstracts_6677.pdf Read in full])

==Books==

* 2009 - "[[Uncommon Knowledge: New Science of Gravity, Light, the Origin of Life, and the Mind of Man]]" ([http://www.filedby.com/author/al_mcdowell/3474805/works/7189550/Uncommon_Knowledge_New_Science_of_Gravity_Light_the_Origin_of_Life_and_the_Mind_of_Man/ Read in full])

[[Category:Scientist]]