The Complex Earth is Simpler Than You Think

“....In science, conventional wisdom is difficult to overturn. After more than 20 years some implications of plate tectonics have yet to be fully appreciated by isotope geochemists... and by geologists and geophysicists who have followed their lead.” “ A myth is an invented tale, often to explain some natural phenomenon... which sometimes acquires the status of dogma... without a sound logical foundation. It is a dogma that has distorted thinking about the Earth for decades, In science this is an old story, likely to be repeated again, as the defenders of conventional wisdom are seldom treated with the same scepticism as the challengers of the status quo... the dogma has been defended with false assertions, defective data, misconceptions and misunderstandings, and with straw-man arguments... The justification ... boils down to a statement of belief, an opinion, rather than a deduction from observations.” “... geochemists are reluctant to abandom cherished concepts they grew up with and have vigorously defended during their education and research careers.”