From MARK LAWSON
The article on the composition and position of Mercury (‘Mercury – the
impossible planet?’, 1 June) did not mention, even in passing, a scientific
heresy that explains the facts that so puzzled the writer.
The position and composition of Mercury are a puzzle only within the
standard theory of formation of the Solar System. As that theory was proved
completely useless by the Voyager encounters, it should come as no surprise
that modified versions of it do not explain Mercury’s position or iron core.
In contrast, the modern Laplacian theory of Solar System formation,
devised by Andrew Prentice of Monash University in Melbourne, accounts for
these facts about Mercury. It has even made successful predictions about
the systems encountered by the Voyager spacecraft. The theory’s problem
is that it is not accepted.
The modern Laplacian theory had the same spinning cloud of dust proposed
by Laplace, but uses a mechanism dubbed supersonic turbulence, a very strong
form of turbulence, which pushes angular momentum out into the fringes of
the cloud. The mechanism was probably very radical when it was first proposed,
and was the reason for the theory’s initial rejection.
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Now supersonic turbulence is a less radical concept – there are indications
it occurs elsewhere in nature – but the modern Laplacian theory is still
not being acknowledged by other scientists in the field, not even as a form
of honourable opposition.
Prentice’s more reasonable critics admit that the theory must have found
an underlying pattern in the formation of the Solar System, even if they
reject the mechanism used to model that pattern. The modern Laplacian theory
must hold some sort of record as the most successful unacknowledged theory
yet devised.
Mark Lawson Sydney, Australia
