The Top 5 Mad Scientists In The World

An English biochemist and plant physiologist, Sheldrake is known for having proposed an unorthodox account of morphogenesis and for his research into parapsychology. His books and papers stem from his theory of morphic resonance, and cover topics such as animal and plant development and behaviour, memory, telepathy, perception and cognition in general. His publications include A New Science of Life (1981), Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (1995), Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999), and The Sense of Being Stared At (2003).

Sheldrake’s ideas have often met with a hostile reception from some scientists, including accusations that he is engaged in pseudoscience. (fromWikipedia) His research on telepathy in animals (summarized in his book ”Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Jome“) led him to see telepathy as normal, rather than a paranormal phenomenon, an aspect of communication between members of animal social groups. The same principles apply to human telepathy, and he has investigated little explored aspects of human telepathy, such as telepathy between mothers and babies, telephone telepathy (thinking of someone who soon afterwards calls) and email telepathy. 

http://www.sheldrake.org/homepage.html  Rupert Sheldrake homepage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Sheldrake  Rupert’s wikipedia

4. Russell Targ

Targ received a Bachelor of Science in physics from Queens College in 1954, and did graduate work in physics at Columbia University. He received two NASA awards for inventions and contributions in lasers and laser communications.

In 1997 he retired from Lockheed Martin as a project manager and senior staff scientist, where he developed laser technology for airborne detection of wind shear and air turbulance. He has published more than a hundred papers on lasers, plasma physics, laser applications and electro-optics.

At the Stanford research institute in the 1970s and 1980s, Targ and his colleague Harold E. Puthoff co-founded a 23-year, $25-million program of research into psychic abilities and their operational use for the U.S. intelligence community, including the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and Army Intelligence. These abilities are referred to collectively as “remote viewing.” Targ and Puthoff both believe that Uri Geller, retired police commissioner Pat Price, and artist Ingo Swann all had genuine psychic abilities. They published their findings in Nature and the Proceedings of the IEEE. From 1972 to 1995 the program was classified SECRET and compartmentalized with Limited Access. That is to say, the program was not only classified, but every single person who was informed about the program had to personally sign a so-called bigot list, to acknowledge that they had been exposed to the program data. However, their work met criticism from some, including psychologists David Marks and Richard Kammann in their 1980 book, The Psychology of Psychics. (frm Wikipedia)

http://www.espresearch.com/  Russel Targ’s homepage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Targ  Russell Targ wikipedia page

5. Yakir Aharonov

An Israeli physicist specializing in quantum physics, Aharonov is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and the James J. Farley Professor of Natural Philosophy at Chapman University in California. He is also a distinguished professor in Perimeter Institute. He also serves as a professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University in Israel. He is president of the Iyar, The Israeli Institute for Advanced Research.

His research interests are nonlocal and topological effects in quantum mechanics, quantum field theories and interpretations of quantum mechanics.  In 1959, he and David Bohm proposed the Aharanov-Bohm effect for which he co-received the 1998 Wolf Prize. (from Wikipedia)

Aharonov and his group are “looking into the notion that time might flow backward, allowing the future to influence the past. By extension, the universe might have a destiny that reaches back and conspires with the past to bring the present into view.  On a cosmic scale, this idea could help explain how life arose in the universe against tremendous odds.  On a personal scale, it may make us question whether fate is pulling us inexorably forward and whether we have free will.

Recent research by Aharonov’s team suggests a similar notion of the nature of time as Daryl Bem’s. However, because Aharonov’s research has taken place under extremely controlled circumstances, it may garner more respect from the scientific community (fairly or unfairly).

http://chapmannews.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/chapman-professor-lands-discover-cover-story/  Article about Aharonov’s work on the nature of time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakir_Aharonov  Yakir’s wikipedia page

http://www.chapman.edu/SCS/CS/faculty/Aharonov.asp  Yakir’s homepage

These are just five scientists out of the dozens “crazy” enough to push the boundries of accepted science. Men and woman like these will likely determine the future of humanity’s understanding of the universe.  As history demonstrates, it is “mad science” where progress comes from, not from the stagnant, skeptical and accepted views of most sciences.  After all, the world is round, not flat.  

“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny.’”
Isaac Asimov

“All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike — and yet it is the most precious thing we have.”

“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
Albert Einstein

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-Mort Amsel for Before It’s News