Editing Tom Van Flandern

{{Short description|American astronomer}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name          = Thomas Charles Van Flandern
| image         = File:Photo of Thomas Van Flandern.jpeg
| image_size    =
| caption       = Thomas Van Flandern in 2007
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1940|06|26|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Cleveland, Ohio]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2009|01|09|1940|06|26|mf=y}}
| death_place   = [[Seattle, Washington]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090114/obit/301149998/-1/OBIT |title=Obituary |access-date=2011-02-17 |archive-date=2011-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715062706/http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090114/obit/301149998/-1/OBIT |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://baas.aas.org/pub/tom-c-van-flandern-1940-2009/release/1 |title=Bulletin of the AAS, Vol. 43, Issue 1. Tom C. Van Flandern (1940–2009), by David W. Dunham and Victor J. Slabinski |access-date=2023-09-22}}</ref>
| nationality   = American
| field         = [[Astronomy]] and [[fringe-science]]
| work_institutions = [[U.S. Naval Observatory]], Meta Research
| alma_mater    = [[Yale University]], [[Xavier University]]
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for     =
| prizes        =
| religion      =
}}

'''Thomas Charles Van Flandern''' (June 26, 1940 – January 9, 2009) was an American astronomer and author who specialized in [[celestial mechanics]]. Van Flandern had a career as a professional scientist but was noted as an outspoken proponent of certain fringe views in [[astronomy]], [[physics]], and [[extraterrestrial life]]. He also published the non-mainstream ''Meta Research Bulletin''.

== Biography ==
[[File:Cincinnati Moonwatch Team sign.jpg|thumb|right|Van Flandern mentioned in historical marker about Project Moonwatch. Placed by Cincinnati Astronomical Society and the city of Cincinnati, OH]]

Tom Van Flandern was the first child of Robert F. Van Flandern, a police officer, and Anna Mary Haley. His father left the family when Tom was 5.<ref name="aas" /> His mother died when he was 16; he and his siblings then lived with their grandmother, Margery Jobe, until he went to college.<ref name="aas" /> He graduated from [[Saint Ignatius High School (Cleveland)|Saint Ignatius High School]] in [[Cleveland]]. While there, he helped start the Cleveland branch of [[Operation Moonwatch]], an amateur science program initiated by the [[Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory]] to track [[satellite]]s.<ref>''Cleveland Plain Dealer'' October 8, 1957 "Moonwatch Team Here Gets Set" page 5</ref><ref>''The Pharos-Tribune and Logansport Press'' August 9, 1959 "Still Keeping Watch" Logansport, IN page 19</ref> He also helped found a Moonwatchers team while studying at [[Xavier University]];<ref>''Xavier University News'' November 5, 1960 Mike Rogers "Satellite Spies Situate Tracking Station on Logan" page 1</ref> this team broke a tracking record in 1961.<ref>''Kingsport News'' May 17, 1961 "Reports Activity" page 10</ref><ref>''The Anderson Herald'' May 17, 1961 "Cincy Moonwatchers Report on Satellites" page 2</ref>

Van Flandern graduated from Xavier University with a [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] in [[mathematics]] (''[[cum laude]]'') in 1962 and was awarded a teaching fellowship at [[Georgetown University]].<ref>''Xavier University News'' May 4, 1962 "Tom Van Flandern Given Fellowship" page 9</ref><ref name="aas" /> He attended [[Yale University]] on a scholarship sponsored by the [[U.S. Naval Observatory]] (USNO),{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}<!-- there is no mention of him in the yearly report: http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1962AJ.....67..608./0000670.000.html --> joining USNO in 1963.<ref>{{Cite journal| bibcode = 1963AJ.....68..649M | title = U.S. Naval Observatory Report | author = T. S. Baskett | journal = [[Astronomical Journal]] | date = 1963 | volume = 68 | issue = 9 | pages = 672, 674 |doi = 10.1086/109195 | s2cid = 119856085 }}</ref> In 1969, he received a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in [[astronomy]] from Yale after completing his [[Thesis|dissertation]] on [[occultation|lunar occultations]].

Van Flandern worked at the USNO until 1983<!-- baas85 says 1983-4; aps says 1983 -->,<ref name="baas85">{{Cite journal| title = U.S. Naval Observatory Report | author = Gart Westerhout | author2 = Charles K. Roberts | journal = [[Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society]] | volume = 17 | page = 457 | bibcode = 1985BAAS...17..457. | date = 1984 }}</ref><ref name="aps">{{Cite journal| url = http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/199604/funding.cfm | title = "Meta" Researcher Champions New Funding Sources for Independent Science | date = April 1996 | volume = 5 | issue = 4 | journal = [[APS News]] }}</ref> first becoming Chief of the Research Branch<ref>USNO Staff Directory for Nautical Almanac Office, December 1976</ref> and later becoming Chief of the Celestial Mechanics Branch of the Nautical Almanac Office.<ref>{{Cite journal| author = Colin Keay | title = Another Revolution in Physics. Maybe? | journal = [[Australian & New Zealand Physicist]] | volume = 30 | issue = 9 | date = September 1993 | page = 230 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 278 | issue = 5707 | page = 821 | date = 1979 | title = Gravitation and the expansion of the Earth |author=van Flandern T. C. | doi = 10.1038/278821a0 |bibcode = 1979Natur.278..821V | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>USNO Staff Directory for Nautical Almanac Office, November 1977</ref> His espousal of highly non-mainstream beliefs, particularly the exploded planet hypothesis, eventually led to his separation from the USNO. He later said, "This forced me to the 'fringes,' areas of astronomy not accepted as credible by experts of the field".<ref>Gonzo Science, Jim Richardson, Alan Richardson, p. 62, 2004.</ref>

Following his separation from the USNO, Van Flandern started a business organizing [[eclipse]]-viewing expeditions and promoting his non-mainstream views in a newsletter and website. Shortly after he died in 2009, the [[asteroid]] [[52266&nbsp;Van Flandern]] was named in his honor because of his prediction and analysis of lunar occultations at the U.S. Naval Observatory and publications of papers on the dynamics of [[minor-planet moon|binary minor planets]].<ref name="MPC-Van Flandern" />

He married Barbara Ann Weber (1942-2018) in 1963 in Kentucky, and they had three sons, Michael, Brian, and Kevin, and a daughter, Connie. The couple moved to Sequim, Washington, from the East Coast in 2005 to be closer to their children and grandchildren.<ref name="aas" /><ref>Barbara Ann (Weber) Flandern, Peninsula Daily News, Legacy.Com</ref>

Tom Van Flandern died of [[colon cancer]] in [[Seattle, Washington]].<ref name="sequimobit">{{Cite web| url =http://www.sequimgazette.com/obituaries/article.exm/2009-01-21_obituaries |title = Obituary | publisher = [[Sequim Gazette]] | date = January 21, 2009 }}</ref>

== Mainstream scientific work ==

During the mid-1970s, Van Flandern believed that lunar observations gave evidence of variation in Newton's [[gravitational constant]] (''G''), consistent with a speculative idea that had been put forward by [[Paul Dirac]]. In 1974, his essay "A Determination of the Rate of Change of G" was awarded second place by the [[Gravity Research Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/winners_year.html#74 | title = Award winners | publisher = [[Gravity Research Foundation]] | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929022056/http://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/winners_year.html#74 | archivedate = 2007-09-29 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/pdf/awarded/1974/vanflandern.pdf | title = A Determination of the Rate of Change of G | date = 1974 | author = Tom Van Flandern | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20111001230512/http://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/pdf/awarded/1974/vanflandern.pdf | archivedate = 2011-10-01 }}</ref>
However, in later years, with new data available, Van Flandern himself admitted his findings were flawed and contradicted by more accurate findings based on radio measurements with the [[Viking lander]]s.<ref>{{Cite book| page = 175– | author = Clifford Will | author-link = Clifford Martin Will | title = Was Einstein Right?: putting general relativity to the test | publisher = [[Basic Books]] | edition = 2nd | date = 1993 | isbn = 0-465-09086-9}}</ref><ref>Dark Matter, Missing Planets, New Comets, Van Flandern 1993.</ref>

Van Flandern and Henry Fliegel developed a compact algorithm to calculate a [[Julian date]] from a Gregorian date that would fit on a single [[Punched card|IBM card]]. They described this in a letter to the editor of a computing magazine in 1968.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fliegel|first=Henry|title=Letters to the editor: a machine algorithm for processing calendar dates|journal=Communications of the ACM|volume=11|issue=10|publisher=ACM|author2=Thomas C. Van Flanderen |page=657|doi=10.1145/364096.364097|date=October 1968|s2cid=27358750|doi-access=free}}</ref> This was available for use in business applications.<ref name="aas" />

With Kenneth Pulkkinen, he published "Low precision formulae for planetary positions" in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement in 1979.<ref>{{Cite journal| title = Low-Precision Formulae for Planetary Positions | author = Van Flandern, T. C. | author2 = Pulkkinen, K. F. | name-list-style = amp | journal = Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series | date = 1979 | volume = 41 | issue = 3 | pages = 391–411 | doi=10.1086/190623|bibcode = 1979ApJS...41..391V }}</ref> The paper set a record for the number of reprints requested from that journal.<ref name="aas" />

Following claims by David Dunham in 1978 to have detected [[Minor-planet moon|satellites for some asteroids]] (notably [[532 Herculina]]) by examining the light patterns during stellar occultations,<ref name="Dunham-1978" /> Van Flandern and others began to report similar observations.<ref>Van Flandern, T. C., Tedesco, E. F. & Binzel, R. P. in Asteroids (ed. Gehrels, T.) 443–465 (Univ. Ariz. Press, Tucson, 1979).</ref> His non-mainstream 1978 prediction that some asteroids have natural satellites, which was almost universally rejected at the time, was later proven correct when the ''[[Galileo (spacecraft)|Galileo]]'' spacecraft photographed Dactyl, a satellite of [[243 Ida]], during its flyby in 1993.<ref name="aas" />

== Non-mainstream science and beliefs ==
Van Flandern described in his 1993 book ''Dark Matter, Missing Planets, New Comets''<ref>"Dark Matter, Missing Planets, New Comets", Van Flandern (1993)</ref> how he had become increasingly dissatisfied with the mainstream views of science by the early 1980s. He wrote:

::"Events in my life caused me to start questioning my goals and the correctness of everything I had learned. In matters of religion, medicine, biology, physics, and other fields, I came to discover that reality differed seriously from what I had been taught."

In his book, on blogs, lectures, newsletters, and websites, Van Flandern focused on [[List of unsolved problems in physics|problems in cosmology and physics]]. He alleged that when experimental evidence is incompatible with mainstream scientific theories, mainstream scientists refuse to acknowledge this to avoid jeopardizing their funding.<ref name="aas" />

=== Exploding planets ===
In 1976, while Van Flandern worked for the USNO, he began to promote the belief that [[Fifth planet (hypothetical)#Disruption theory|major planets sometimes explode]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://metaresearch.org/solar%20system/eph/eph2000.asp |title=The Exploded Planet Hypothesis - 2000 |accessdate=2013-06-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407233124/http://metaresearch.org/solar%20system/eph/eph2000.asp |archivedate=2013-04-07 }} According to Van Flandern's article on the Exploded Planet Hypothesis: "The third planetary explosion mechanism relies on one other hypothesis not yet widely accepted, but holds out the potential for an indefinitely large reservoir of energy for exploding even massive planets and stars. If gravitational fields are continually regenerated, as in LeSage particle models of gravity [xvi], then all masses are continually absorbing energy from this universal flux."</ref> Van Flandern also speculated that the origin of the human species may well have been on the planet Mars, which he believed was once a moon of a now-exploded "[[Phaeton (hypothetical planet)|Planet V]]".

=== Le Sage's theory of gravitation and the speed of gravity ===
Van Flandern supported [[Georges-Louis Le Sage]]'s [[Le Sage's theory of gravitation|theory of gravitation]], according to which gravity is the result of a flux of invisible "ultra-mundane corpuscles" impinging on all objects from all directions at superluminal speeds. He gave public lectures in which he claimed that these particles could be used as a limitless source of free energy and to provide superluminal propulsion for spacecraft.<ref>{{Cite journal| author = Jeffery D. Kooistra |title = Conference on Future Energy |journal=[[Magazine (magazine)|Magazine]] |issue= 26 | date = July–August 1999}} An editor gave a summary of Van Flandern's talk at the Infinite Energy conference and wrote "Van Flandern gave a talk entitled 'On a Complete Theory of Gravity and Free Energy'. For the free energy enthusiast, the implications of gravity being particulate and perhaps blockable are obvious. Block or deflect the c-gravitons raining down from the sky and up you go into space. Turn off the blocking shield and recover the energy you've gained, for free, as you fall back to Earth."</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51aJobWkrig | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131201005/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51aJobWkrig| archive-date=2014-01-31 | url-status=dead|title = Dr. Thomas Van Flandern – MUFON-LA (1 of 1) | publisher = youtube}}</ref>

In 1998 Van Flandern wrote a paper<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/S0375-9601(98)00650-1 | title = The speed of gravity ? What the experiments say | date = 1998 | last1 = Van Flandern | first1 = T | journal = [[Physics Letters A]] | volume = 250| issue = 1–3 | pages = 1–11|bibcode = 1998PhLA..250....1V }}</ref> asserting that astronomical observations imply that gravity propagates at least twenty billion times faster than light, or even infinitely fast. [[Gerald E. Marsh]], Charles Nissim-Sabat and [[Steve Carlip]] demonstrated that Van Flandern's argument was fallacious.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi =10.1016/S0375-9601(99)00675-1 | title =Comment on "The speed of gravity" | date =1999 | last1 =Marsh | first1 =Gerald E | last2 =Nissim-Sabat | first2 =Charles | journal =Physics Letters A | volume =262| issue =2–3 | pages =257|bibcode = 1999PhLA..262..257M | url =https://zenodo.org/record/1260033 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| last1 =Carlip | first1 =S | title=Aberration and the Speed of Gravity | journal= Phys. Lett. A | date=2000 | volume=267| issue =2–3 | pages=81–87 | arxiv= gr-qc/9909087 | doi=10.1016/S0375-9601(00)00101-8 |bibcode = 2000PhLA..267...81C | s2cid =12941280 }}</ref>

=== Face on Mars ===
Van Flandern was a prominent advocate of the belief that certain geological features seen on Mars, especially the "[[Cydonia face|face at Cydonia]]", are not of natural origin but were produced by intelligent extraterrestrial life, probably the inhabitants of a major planet once located where the asteroid belt presently exists, and which Van Flandern believed had exploded 3.2 million years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metaresearch.org/solar%20system/cydonia/proof_files/proof.asp |title=Proof that the Cydonia Face on Mars is Artificial |publisher=Metaresearch.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20021123170349/http://www.metaresearch.org/solar%20system/cydonia/proof_files/proof.asp |archivedate=2002-11-23 }}</ref> The claimed artificiality of the "face" was also the topic of a chapter of his 1993 book.<ref name="Flandern1998">{{cite book|author=Tom Van Flandern|title=Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets: Paradoxes Resolved, Origins Illuminated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fq8trtkOvMEC&pg=PA417|date=1993|publisher=[[North Atlantic Books]]|isbn=978-1-55643-268-2|location=chapter 24. New Evidence for Artificiality at Cydonia on Mars}}</ref>

=== Rejection of Big Bang cosmology ===
Van Flandern was a vocal opponent of the [[Big Bang]] model in cosmology and believed in a [[static universe]] instead. In 2008, he organized the "[[Hubble's law#Hubble tension|Crisis in Cosmology]]"; a conference of individuals who opposed the Big Bang cosmological models.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080911/NEWS/809110302|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122508/http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080911/NEWS/809110302|archive-date=2016-03-04|title=Scientists at Port Angeles conference huddle over alternatives to 'big bang' theory}}</ref><ref name="aas" />

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="aas">{{cite web
  |url = http://aas.org/obituaries/tom-c-van-flandern-1940-2009
  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130826104735/http://aas.org/obituaries/tom-c-van-flandern-1940-2009
  |url-status = dead
  |archive-date = August 26, 2013
  |title = BAAS Obituary
  |author = David Dunham (KinetX, Inc.) |author2=Victor Slabinski (U.S. Naval Observatory)
  |date=2011}}</ref>

<ref name="MPC-Van Flandern">{{cite web
  |title      = 52266 Van Flandern (1986 AD)
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |url        = http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=52266
  |accessdate = 2 August 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="Dunham-1978">{{cite journal
  |author     = Dunham, David W.
  |date       = December 1978
  |title      = Satellite of Minor Planet 532 Herculina Discovered During Occultation
  |journal    = The Minor Planet Bulletin
  |volume     = 6
  |pages      = 13–14
  |bibcode    = 1978MPBu....6...13D
  }}</ref>

}} <!-- end of reflist -->

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160607003517/http://metaresearch.org/home/about%20meta%20research/vanflandern.asp Archived: Biography at Meta Research site]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110709013626/http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/07/06/einstein/index.html Archived: Salon story about relativity dissidents including Van Flandern (archived)]

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[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:American astronomers]]
[[Category:Pseudoscientific physicists]]
[[Category:Relativity critics]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]