[meteorite-list] Doug Schmitt's Talk at TEDxVancouver on 21st October 2012

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2013 15:31:22 +0100
Message-ID: <005701ce053f$ced09de0$6c71d9a0$_at_de>

Hi,

maybe it would make more sense to address Mr.Schmitt personally?
To ask him, to make his homework first, before he gets up on the golden soap box.
It seems to me, that after a full dozen of years, he still hasn't read yet the laws, he "interpreted"
in his paper he had published then.
The simple mistakes he made there, regarding the laws of Switzerland, New Zealand, India, (probably Denmark too)
And especially regarding the 1970 UNESCO convention,
were several times here demonstrated on the list by means of the original texts and wordings of the respective laws.

But whether it could make sense,
I doubt it, because to me it seems, that Mr.Schmitt doesn't know, that he is selling his own (in those above mentioned cases invalid) interpretations of laws and not the real existing laws themselves.
Furthermore it will be difficult, as I fear, the basic information in that area are still unknown to Mr.Schmitt (and that after so long time), when I hear him his speech starting in claiming that most meteorites would be found in Antarctica.
This is definitely untrue, most meteorites were found in Sahara desert. He doesn't know the concept of pairing (on average 5 of the Antarctic meteorites are paired with each other) and he doesn't know the difference between the Antarctic field numbering system and the NWA, Dho, DaG and so on numbering process.
Neither he knows, that the main load of ordinary weathered and equilibrated chondrites recovered in Sahara, doesn't appear in the Bulletins, cause they are of so low scientific use and interest, that they aren't classified and numbered, but exceed by far the finds from Sahara given in the Bulletins.

Well and that private collectorship and trade would be harmful,
that he should prove by speaking with the curators of the big institutional collections
and in studying the annals of these institutes, where in past and today their meteoritic inventory was acquired from.


That said, I personally admire Schmitt to be so keen, to hold such public lessons,
as in principle he is risking that his reputation as an attorney could be damaged, if some true experts in that area would report the real facts.

Not my cup of tea.
(IMCA I think, wouldn't be at the moment the right organization to write an answer,
as they are still searching for the stand and their binding position towards laws.)


Only my private opinion.

Martin



-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Mendy Ouzillou
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 7. Februar 2013 08:07
An: Yinan Wang
Cc: Adam; MEM
Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Doug Schmitt's Talk at TEDxVancouver on 21st October 2012

Common sense advice - love it.

Will have to do that soon as I'm getting up way to early to catch my flight to Tucson.

:-)

Mendy Ouzillou
Received on Thu 07 Feb 2013 09:31:22 AM PST