Pat,

Thank you for your explanations of why we should refute these "old wives tales". This is obviouly not what I was asking for. I was asking for, based on your statement, any science that provided "some basis" in support of these "old wives tales". Also, thank you for the personal note.

As you well know, these concepts were derived from extrapolation of "experience" and beliefs without the benefit of scientific confirmation. In addition, there was a lack of scientific questioning by this community (and I believe there still is). If we are to propagate the belief that there is some science behind what was previously done is a disservice to the technical advancement of this profession. We need to run far away from such scientifically unvalididated short-cuts and replace such "tools" with ones with scientific validity, which are going to require more complexity or a very limited useful range. So, yes, I take issue with and question statements such as "Oddly enough, nearly all of these ‘Old Wives’ Tales’ have some basis in science."

Doug

Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com