[meteorite-list] The Problems with Reductionism ad infinitum

From: John Birdsell <birdsell_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Sep 9 18:01:57 2004
Message-ID: <4140D2CC.1070703_at_email.arizona.edu>

Dear Adam and list. Adam as we follow your argument, we find some
potential problems. As we understand it you bought a handful of putative
meteorite fragments (118g) from a moroccan who told you they all came
from the same strewn field. If you were not actually there when all 118g
were unearthed, you are then simply relying on the word of the person
that you purchased your samples from that they all came from the same
location. You then had thin sections made from one or two of these
fragments and they were classified as picritic shergottites and assigned
the provisional name of NWA 1110-(please jump in and correct us if we
are getting our facts wrong). Then, a planetary scientist looked at the
rest of your fragments and told you that, by eye-balling them, they were
consistent with the one or two which had actually been micro-probed. If
this is the scenerio, then techinally speaking I don't think you can
really acertain whether the un-analyzed fragments are truely paired to
the analyzed fragments anymore than other dealers (or planetary
scientists) can claim that the fragments they purchased from moroccan
suppliers are paired to the official NWA 1110 without micro probe
analysis. If we follow your argument to its ultimate conclusion you
would have to ask the lab to make thin sections and perform microprobe
analyses on each and every fragment that you purchased. This is
particularily true in this case in which multiple picritic shergotite
samples are coming out of Morocco. This is obviously ridiculous and no
one would expect anyone to have such an analysis performed as it would
waste the scientists time. This said, if you really want to insist on a
strict adherence to the rules, as you appear to be doing, then no one
can legitimately claim that the un-analyzed fragments in your 118g
sample are paired with NWA 1110 until they have actually been
microprobed by a qualified planetary scientist. Judging by the
fragments of NWA 1110 that you have been selling on ebay, it does not
appear that any of these have even had a window polished into their
surface let alone a thin section made from them. I don't know of any
planetary scientist capable of accurately classifying a tiny meteorite
fragment by just looking at its exterior, especially when comparing one
shergottite to another. Just how strictly do you want to adhere to the
"correct" procedures for classifying these samples?


Just my two cents worth...


-John
Received on Thu 09 Sep 2004 06:01:48 PM PDT