Cooperative Living March/April 2018 - 7

HistoryMystery
Our January 2018 History Mystery subject
The theme for this year's
column is " Famous
People Born in Virginia. "
You are invited to submit
your guess as to the
identity of the person
pictured in each issue
and submit it in writing,
along with your name,
address and phone
number, via mail to
History Mystery, c/o Cooperative Living, P.O. Box
2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340 or guess online at
www.co-opliving.com under " Contests. " The
deadline for this issue's entries is March 20, 2018.
Correct entries will be placed in a drawing and the
winner announced in the June 2018 issue. The winner
will receive a check for $25. n
wasn't his job to prove his particle existed.
The job of theoretical physicists is to
propose possible answers and to explain,
using the language of science -
mathematics - why this is AN answer
if not THE answer. (As everyone should
know by now, the average person is using
the word " theory " when they should be
using the word " hypothesis. " ) Dr. Higgs
did not expect to be proven correct within
his lifetime and had long been retired.
Perhaps you remember when he was
 DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS?
was Desmond Doss (1919-2006). Born in
Lynchburg, he was raised as a Seventh-Day
Adventist, with his mother instilling in him a
nonviolent, vegetarian lifestyle. During the
Great Depression, Doss helped support his
family by working at the local lumberyard, then
at Newport News Shipyard. He voluntarily
enlisted when the United States entered World
War II. Because his religious beliefs meant he
would not carry a weapon or kill an enemy
soldier, he instead became a medic assigned
to the 307th Infantry and was twice awarded the Bronze Star for
exceptional valor in aiding wounded soldiers while under fire. After
saving 75 men during the Battle of Okinawa, Doss became the only
conscientious objector in World War II to receive the Medal of Honor.
His life has been the subject of several books, a documentary and
the critically acclaimed 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge. Reader Anita Shaw
of Montpelier was our $25 winner. Congratulations, Anita!
proven correct at CERN in 2012 after 40
years of work. The point is that other
scientists in that field have the job of
proving or disproving a scientist's work.
Science used to be easy and one could
make discoveries using thought,
mathematics, a pencil and a piece of
paper, see Einstein and Relativity. But
that is no longer the case. Finding the
Higgs particle required: an extremely
powerful collider (which took 20 years to
design and another 20 to construct), the
internet to transmit the data, the
computers with the capability to handle
the data this massive collider would
generate and the cooperation of nations,
some of whom were otherwise in conflict
with each other.
Compare that to what proved Einstein's
Theory of Relativity: observing a solar
eclipse and observing gravitational lensing.
A science fiction writer can come up with
anything he or she likes and get away
with it because he or she is not surrounded
by other writers eager to prove him or
her wrong.
Peer review is nothing less than
gladiatorial combat to the death of
reputation and of careers. But when it
all comes right, it is glorious. Just as Dr.
Peter Higgs.
- Katherine Zupan
Woodbridge, Virginia
www.co-opliving.com
CORRECTION AND CLARIFICATION
February's story about the Highland
Maple Festival noted that " Back Creek
Farms makes rye-barrel syrup by
extracting flavors out of wooden
casks from rye whiskey distillers.
In a double trade, the distillers craft
maple-flavored whiskey using the
same casks. "
Back Creek Farms makes rye,
bourbon, brandy and (wheat)
whiskey barrel-aged maple syrups
(in addition to infusions including
chili pepper, coffee amaretto
and others).
However, it is illegal for distillers
to reuse barrels for aging spirits.
While Back Creek Farms sells used
barrels to home
brewers, they do
not return them
to the distillery.
Back Creek
Farms makes
rye-whiskeybarrel-infused
maple
syrup
and heats
things up
with their chili
pepper flavor.
March-April 2018 | Cooperative Living | 5
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Cooperative Living March/April 2018

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