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0 pointsModernMech3y ago0 comments

It’s unlikely this paper was peer reviewed. The peer review process was much different in Einstein’s time. It wouldn’t pass for research today. I kind of thought we were talking about how research is conducted in modern times, not how they did it over 100 years ago.

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Retric3y ago

If you want a more recent example. How about 1966 with the counter example of Euler’s Conjecture on Sums of Like Powers.

A direct search on the CDC 6600 yielded 27^5 + 84^5 + 110^5 + 133^5 = 144^5

as the smallest instance in which four fifth powers sum to a fifth power. This is a counterexample to a conjecture by Euler [1] that at least n nth powers are required to sum to an nth power, 1 > 2.

And that’s the paper. They could have gone into great detail about the program used etc, but it clearly communicates what was done and the results so why bother.

ModernMechOP3y ago

“I consulted a magic box and arrived at the answer” is precisely the kind of paper that is an example of search, and not research. I mean, they plainly stated that’s what they’ve done.

How would you go about redoing exactly what Lander and Parkin did? You can’t because they don’t really say. Isn’t this whole thread about a lack of reproducible studies resulting in fraud?

But anyway, I like what you’re doing here because you’re beginning to document why the modern peer review system was developed in the first place in the 70s. Sounds like a good topic for a research paper.

Retric3y ago

A counter example is a proof unto it’s self there is no need to derive it again, just verify the counter example is correct.

Many modern papers are of this form. If you have some specific data as recent enough to be valid I could provide one but I am not going to just pick a paper from 1990 and you say nope not recent enough.

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Retric3y ago

If you want a more recent example. How about 1966 with the counter example of Euler’s Conjecture on Sums of Like Powers.

A direct search on the CDC 6600 yielded 27^5 + 84^5 + 110^5 + 133^5 = 144^5

And that’s the paper. They could have gone into great detail about the program used etc, but it clearly communicates what was done and the results so why bother.

ModernMechOP3y ago

“I consulted a magic box and arrived at the answer” is precisely the kind of paper that is an example of search, and not research. I mean, they plainly stated that’s what they’ve done.

How would you go about redoing exactly what Lander and Parkin did? You can’t because they don’t really say. Isn’t this whole thread about a lack of reproducible studies resulting in fraud?

Retric3y ago

A counter example is a proof unto it’s self there is no need to derive it again, just verify the counter example is correct.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse