About John Dobson

John Dobson, co-founder of the Sidewalk Astronomers and builder of telescopes, is a groundbreaking thinker and teacher. He was featured in the PBS television series "The Astronomers", has been written up several times in "Sky and Telescope" magazine, twice appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and has been interviewed many times for radio programs on stations such as Oregon Public Broadcasting. His theories in physics and cosmology boldly break new ground and significantly challenge the scientific orthodoxy. John Dobson is perhaps best known for his work in the design and construction of telescopes, however, as most telescopes made today use what is known as a "Dobsonian" mount. John Dobson's scientific musings are very thought provoking and, like Einstein's Relativity, require us to re-examine many of our long-held views. While many leading scientists accept the Big Band model without question, Dobson does not. After examining the theory, Dobson concluded it was fatally flawed and has been debunking the Big Bang ever since. He predicts that the Big Bang will fall out of favor within this decade. In place of the Big Bang, Dobson presents a Steady State model which more accurately describes observed cosmological phenomena. His model does not suffer the flaws of its Steady State predecessors which were popular before the Big Bang theories. The Dobson Steady State model is simple and elegant. It is simpler than the various Big Bang theories and if we apply the Law of Parsimony (aka Occam's Razor), the Dobson model clearly wins due to its greater simplicity. Like many scientists, Dobson is not a materialist. He admits that our desire to view the world as made up of indestructible matter, tiny billiard balls at the subatomic level, is very strongly instilled in us. But he believes that it is a mistake, encouraged by our genetics, to view the world this way. In his view and words, the "Universe is apparitional." For those familiar with the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dobson's view is that the Universe is similar to a holographic projection on the Holodeck. Objects and people on the Holodeck are seemingly made of solid matter, but that is only an illusion. It is important to note that Dobson himself does not make this Holodeck analogy; he watches very little television and is unfamiliar with the newer Star Trek series. No brief biography of John Dobson would be complete without mentioning the fact that he spent 27 years in a Vedanta monastery. Since leaving the monastery, he continues to live a spartan, unpretentious lifestyle. He is compelled to share the beauty of the universe with others, expecting nothing in return save the joy of sharing, and does so by setting up telescopes in public places beckoning passersby to come look through the telescope, and by conducting classes and public lectures.