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Martin Gardner's book
--[[User:AvengingAngel|AvengingAngel]] 16:29, 28 May 2007 (EDT)
--[[User:AvengingAngel|AvengingAngel]] 16:29, 28 May 2007 (EDT)
: This is an absorbing discussion but it's past my bed-time. One point AA I think the R stands for Roger. [[User:NatWest|NatWest]] 18:05, 28 May 2007 (EDT)
: This is an absorbing discussion but it's past my bed-time. One point AA I think the R stands for Roger. [[User:NatWest|NatWest]] 18:05, 28 May 2007 (EDT)
== Martin Gardner's book ==
Don't have it at hand and the Google Books partial preview lacks some of the key pieces, but in this book he uses the word phrase frequently and has a section in which he details what he says are the typical characteristics of "crackpot science." I think it's likely that he popularized the term. From the [http://books.google.com/books?id=kWoJ8mEEJ0wC&pg=PA14&ots=Zh4aMKDaXY&dq=crackpot+theory+OR+science+OR+inventor+OR+invention+OR+scientist+OR+doctor+date:1800-1960&num=100&as_brr=3&sig=S-LV50tt1bShj6nmWDRYeYDoo8g#PPA13,M1 Google Books preview], points 3, 4, and 5 are:
3) "the crackpot believes himself unjustly persecuted and discriminated against;"
4) "He has strong compulsions to focus his attacks on the greatest scientists and the best-established theories. When Newton was the outstanding name in physics, eccentric works in that science were violently anti-Newton. Today, with Einstein the father-symbol of authority, a crank theory of physics is likely to attack Einstein in the name of Newton."
5) "He often has a tendency to write in a complex jargon, making use of terms and phrases he himself has coined."
Probably worth digging out and using in writing the article. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 18:39, 28 May 2007 (EDT)