The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

by Krzysztof Sienicki

A comment on Chris Turney's and Bill Alp's manuscripts

In here, I will not comment on the particularities of both articles, which are related to a previous article by Turney. Instead, I'm interested in recognizing the last and indeed summary line from Turney's comment, i.e.

It is a great shame that the value of the new research findings reported in the article are not recognised

by Mr Alp.

Captain Scott’sjourney to the South Pole was a definitive spatiotemporal event. The event was naturally bounded by all variables related to the journey; human (I'm ignoring here the dogs and ponies.)and physical.

Primary human variables included prior traits and function (position) assigned later during the expedition. Secondary human variables, which finally turned to be a determining factor in Scott’s, Wilson’s, Bowers’, and Oates’deaths (P. O. Evans perished due to natural causes.), included all transcendental reminiscences of all past and future social issues back home.

The primary physical variables included all variables contributing to what in today's terms we call logistics. And the secondary physical variables, which continue to be secondary, included all geophysical variables. The above was supported (supplemented) by a limited volume of in situ diaries and notes, letters, and post-expedition recollections.

In terms of history and historical events of a similar measure, the volume of related primary sourcesand other evidence of Scott's journey is very small. Thus, one could expect that Scott's story is sufficiently well told, and that not much new – if anything at all – can be presented, advanced, and discussed, especially so many years after the actual events.

But that is not the case, and new revelations are freely reported in the form of research articles, books, and recently Internet sites and blogs.

By saying "freely reported" I'm noticing that the editors of a journal named Polar Record, under the guise of publishing peer-reviewed articles, promote cargo cult science – a practice in which there is a semblance of benign science, but there is no following of a scientific method.

Much has been written about the scientific method. However in here, and for the purpose of this short note, let me stress that the fundamental part of the scientific method is replication. In experimental sciences, scientists repeat experiments to re-confirm the original experiment. In theoretical sciences, scientists repeat given calculations.

And in historical research, the findings requirea scientific method and close work on primary sources.

Thus, in between, a new historical discovery could be based on a finding, for example,a new primary source of significant measure. But not only finding, but also, and chieflyby sharing the content of a new primary source with the public and fellow researchers,belongs to the scientific method. Anything short of thatis reading from tea leaves.

Turney’s bombshell "... Meares had left a letter informing others of his actions..." is worth nothing as Meares had never left a letter. It is Turney’s lie.