Solar scientist Eugene Parker passes away at 94
R.I.P. Solar scientist Eugene Parker, whose research revolutionized solar science in the 20th century and for which the Parker Solar Probe was named, has passed away at the age 94.
As a young professor at the University of Chicago in the mid-1950s, Parker developed a mathematical theory that predicted the solar wind, the constant outflow of solar material from the Sun. Throughout his career, Parker revolutionized the field time and again, advancing ideas that addressed the fundamental questions about the workings of our Sun and stars throughout the universe.
Parker belonged to the past generations of scientists who followed the principles of the Enlightenment and believed that science was fundamentally the search for truth. He understood he could always be wrong, which brought a certain muscular strength to any ideas he proposed. He could not be lazy in any way, or his work would fail. Instead, it shone, and made what little we know of the Sun today possible.
Sadly, such men are one-by-one going from us. I wonder if the new generations will understand his mindset.
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R.I.P. Solar scientist Eugene Parker, whose research revolutionized solar science in the 20th century and for which the Parker Solar Probe was named, has passed away at the age 94.
As a young professor at the University of Chicago in the mid-1950s, Parker developed a mathematical theory that predicted the solar wind, the constant outflow of solar material from the Sun. Throughout his career, Parker revolutionized the field time and again, advancing ideas that addressed the fundamental questions about the workings of our Sun and stars throughout the universe.
Parker belonged to the past generations of scientists who followed the principles of the Enlightenment and believed that science was fundamentally the search for truth. He understood he could always be wrong, which brought a certain muscular strength to any ideas he proposed. He could not be lazy in any way, or his work would fail. Instead, it shone, and made what little we know of the Sun today possible.
Sadly, such men are one-by-one going from us. I wonder if the new generations will understand his mindset.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
He lived long enough to see a probe named after him….rare if not unique.
The winner of seven awards in his lifetime, any one of which would be considered a considerable achievement. Including the naming of a solar probe while he was still alive!
Even though many of his hypothesis were later proven to be correct, others are not recognized as the current solar dynamic model… Probably for political reasons or nuclear fusion (weapons research) funding reasons.
“Eugene Newman Parker (June 10, 1927 – March 15, 2022) was an American solar physicist and plasma physicist. In the 1950s he proposed the existence of the solar wind and that the magnetic field in the outer Solar System would be in the shape of a Parker spiral, predictions that were later confirmed by spacecraft measurements. In 1987, Parker proposed that the solar corona might be heated by myriad tiny “nanoflares”, miniature brightenings resembling solar flares that would occur all over the surface of the Sun; this is a leading candidate to explain the coronal heating problem.[1][2]”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Parker
I was hoping the solar probe would confirm existence nano flares while he was still alive. (although the Soho observations declared it so nearly 25 years ago… ) One of the reasons I became so intensely fascinated with space and physics because of the new monumental discoveries being declared / discovered by SOHO and a British scientist selling his book “OUR MANTIC SUN” on the BBC… and then confused by the ignoring of the science that was proven correct, for unknown reasons, favoring the sun being a nuclear furnace despite the lack of evidence and radiation.
Parker was truly an inspiration for all those who seek the truth in the scientific method and of reason, testing and verification… (as he was an inspiration for me)
Instead of computer models pre-programmed for a particular outcome desired and flamboyance.
(The PT Barnum method)
Hopefully when sanity returns to the universities, his courageous discoveries will be numbered among others such as Galileo, Newton, Einstein… The ones who made a difference!
” I wonder if the new generations will understand his mindset.”
Oh, I’ve met some of the kids who are going to be all right.
They’ve seen that depending on the State is a problematic, at best, and want little to do with it.
The sun shines strong still