Re[4]: The Henry Voyage

[Doug Weller <dweller@ramtops.demon.co.uk>]

Hi,

Tuesday, March 5, 2002, 9:02:50 PM, Tim Wallace-Murphy wrote:

[SNIP]

> Professor de Bethune is not merely emeritus Professor of
> Chemistry at Boston College, he was a close colleague of Professor Willard
> F. Libby, who devised carbon dating in the first place, and therefore his
> considered professional opinion cannot be easily dismissed.

I strongly disagree that the fact that De Bethune was a colleague of
Libby's decades ago makes him any kind of expert on radiocarbon
dating.

> From these comments it is plain that at best, the Carbon Dating of the
> Newport Tower is deemed to be unreliable and innaccurate by reputable people
> of considerable expertise by reason of the questionable selection of the
> samples used and because of the unsuitable nature of the substance being
> tested.

The people who did the dating are reputable experts with considerable
experience (which is vital) in using C14 dating and in particular with the sorts of
problems found at the Newport Tower.


> Therefore in attempting to assess the true date of the Tower's
> construction we have to rely on the archaeological work done by Arlington
> Mallory and the late Jim Whittal.

And I submit you cannot dismiss Godfrey's work so lightly.

> Both point firmly to a date over two hundred years prior to the
> establishment of the Colony at Rhode Island and Jim Whittal, who is the only
> investigator so far to conduct an extensive comaparitive study of the
> building with it's European counterparts, points unequivocally at Earl Henry
> St Clair as the builder.

I'll be interested in seeing this. None of the architectural
comparisons to churches that I've seen stands up. I haven't read
Whittal's papers on this although I've been told about some of his
arguments about architectural feature and measurements.
But I don't see how the construction of the Newport Tower
is compatible with its being built as a church, if that is the
suggestion.

> This should provide food for thought.

> References used are as follows:

> English translation of an article by Heinemeier and Jung published in
> Archaeological Excavations in Denmark, 1992.

>  Article b James L. Guthrie on file in the Jim Whittal Archive in the folder
> 'Comments on the Radio Carbon dating of the Newport Tower'.

> Letter to Jim Whittal from Data-Roche Watchman Inc, dated June 21st 1996,

I know who Alan Watchman is, it was 'Watchman-Data' that threw me.
                .
> Letter by Andre de Bethune published in the
> Newport Daily News, 8th July 1997.

And all of this is prior to the later response by the scientists who
did the dating. Which I will try to post when I can.

Doug

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