PROFESSOR TOYIN FALOLA HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE CRITIQUES OF PHILIP EMEAGWALI
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>........ particularly in terms of

> understanding of the culture of science and technology....Toyin Adepoju

I suggest that Toyin Adepoju should read Feyerabend's 'Against Method'

and read Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions again.

I know it is now an old text but it continues to be influential.

He should even re- read Lakatos. I am getting

this feeling that his conception of what scientists do, and how they

evaluate their peers, is pretty much influenced by 19th century positivism.

In his view of what science is Adepoju is rather old fashioned and seems

to predate even an old battleaxe like Popper, whose final work was in

favor of the interaction of body and mind, thus highlighting the role of

subjectivity and thus dispelling the myth of some kind of unchanging,

pure scientific culture out there. See Popper, K. Knowledge and

the Body-Mind Problem. Routledge, 1994.

Note that this great philosopher of science never accepted the idea of

verification, and 'proof'' in the conventional sense, but invented the concept

of falsification and falsifiability. In other words a theory is scientific if is

falsifiable and can be proven wrong. I cite him because he is one of the classic

pioneers in the history and philosophy of science and I still find his insights useful.

Remember, also, Kuhn's argument that mob psychology governs the view

of scientists and academics in general, and sometimes they are unable,

or even afraid to deal with an outside theory, a different view, and we may

add to that, 'outsiders'.........people outside of the race, geographical

space and the inner circle of the scientific community in question. In short, in the

world of scholarship in general, racism and xenophobia exist. You quoted him

some time ago.

Does anyone really seriously believe that all academically sound/ good articles

or books submitted for publication, whether in the arts or sciences, have

been accepted? And what of all the racist rants that made it to the

academic presses? The most difficult book to publish is one that challenges

the orthodox view of a subject, or threatens to challenge an intellectual icon.

The book may never see the light of day. Paul Feyerabend, a renowned

philosopher of science, made the point that he sent his book on for

publication to London in 1972. It disappeared 'under mysterious circumstances.'

In the long run he got it published by Verso Press which was not highly regarded

then, but the work turned out to be one of the truly great works in the

philosophy of science.

I am happy for Afolabi's reminder that Oyibo's search for a

'theory of everything' is not a bit of pomposity on his part, but a rather normal

quest in science. I got the impression from a previous commentator,

a few weeks ago, that somehow, by searching for Grand Unified Theory,

Oyibo was engaging in some kind of ridiculous impossibility that amounted

to sorcery. That misconception should be put to rest and we

should encourage more of our scientists to search for and construct GUT.

In fact I admire Oyibo for embarking on this field of research, granted that we

are still in the process of evaluating his work.

Dare Afolabi has peer reviewed Oyibo's work and mentioned that

Pozzi, Carot, Animalu, and a few others have done so. Most importantly,

he has actually read the papers of Oyibo. We really do appreciate the

assessment. What say you, Toyin?

At this point in time I would like to ask a rather

Popperian question directed at critics. What is wrong with GAGUT,

in their perception- and here we should try to make a distinction between

Oyibo, the man, and his theory GAGUT, as much as possible.

Is GAGUT falsifiable?

And, as Kuhn would probably frame it, is there 'a paradigm shift' in Oyibo's

GAGUT, that makes it difficult for members of the old, hard -core, inner circle to

evaluate the theory? If so, how can we get around that impasse.

The following publications by Oyibo are listed by Scott Williams:

Oyibo, Gabriel A. Complex variable theorem for the general fundamental

solutions for the full Navier Stokes equations. Int. J. Math. Game

Theory Algebra 9 (1999), no. 4, 277--320.

Oyibo, Gabriel A. Mathematical modelling for fluid and gas dynamic

turbulence, Nova J. Math. Game Theory Algebra 6 (1997), no. 4,

223--274 also published in Applied Mathematics: Methods and

Applications (1995), 519--563.

Oyibo, Gabriel A. Exact closed form solutions to the full Navier-

Stokes equations and new perceptions for fluid and gas dynamics,

Nova J. Math. Game Theory Algebra 7 (1997), 13-74 also

published in Applied Mathematics: Methods and Applications

(1995), 401--476.

Oyibo, Gabriel A.Generalized mathematical proof of Einstein's

theory using a new group theory, Nova J. Math. Game Theory

Algebra 4 (1996), 1-24 also published in Applied Mathematics:

Methods and Applications (1995), 205--223

John Jara Nutakor and Gabriel Oyibo, An investigation of a

solution technique for the three-dimensional hodograph equation,

Applied Mathematics: Methods and Applications (1995), 103--158.

Oyibo, Gabriel A.Closed-form solutions for nonlinear quasi-unsteady

transonc aerodynamics, AIAA J. 27 (1989), 1572-1578.

Oyibo, Gabriel A.; Brunelle, Eugene J., Vibrations of circular

orthotropic plates in affine space, AIAA J. 23, 296-300 (1985).

Brunelle, E.J.; Oyibo, G.A. Generic buckling curves for specially

orthotropic rectangular plates, AIAA J. 21, 1150-1156 (1983).

Oyibo, Gabriel A. Unified aeroelastic flutter theory for very low

aspect ratio panels, AIAA J. 21, 1581-1587 (1983).

Oyibo, Gabriel A. Grand unified theorem representing the unified

field theory or the theory of everything. Int. J. Math. Game Theory

Algebra 9.

Finally, has Oyibo appropriated someone else's theory or invention and

claimed that it was his?

Gloria Emeagwali

www.africahistory.net

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Dare Afolabi [afolab...@gmail.com]

Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 2:47 PM

To: USA Africa Dialogue SeriesPHILIP EMEAGWALI

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: PROFESSOR TOYIN FALOLA HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE CRITIQUES OF Toyin,

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I see.

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By Dare Afolabi.

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"The problem with your defense of Oyibo is ......" Toyin Adepoju

You started off on a wrong footing. I am sure I did not appoint myself as Oyibo's attorney.

A great part of my comments were general, although some surely are applicable to this case.

I have always been fascinated by the issue of 'proof' as reflected in the history of science and this seems

to be a possible test case. I have also been interested in the various possibilities for validation

of indigenous science. You may see why Feyerabend attracts me.

I listed some of Oyibo's articles and the source of the list. I did not think that

these were all his articles. His book(s) were not included. In fact I consider the list a start.

Remember that someone said that he had only one article.

By the way, I hope you are not behind the times once more. You tube serves a useful purpose

for social networking. Einstein may have used it, too, given the opportunity, but of course

these avenues did not exist then. This is now a multimedia world. The dissemination of information

can take various forms. I believe Stephen Hawkins of 'History of Time' fame actually uses it, too.

"You have tried to imagine Oyibo as a Black achiever and scientific maverick who needs ......."

There you go again jumping the gun, putting words into my mouth, making yourself judge and jury at the same time.

Generally I detect an indecent haste to rush to conclusions-----

"If it is a serious mathematical work, whether or not it achieves a successful Unified Theory,

sooner or later, one is likely to get published reviews that will evaluate it fairly."

This sentence is promising. A fair evaluation is what I am concerned about. Nothing more. Nothing less.

We are now on the same page. We must always open the door for fair evaluation and let the chips

fall where they may after that.

You did not answer my last question. Has anyone ever accused Oyibo of appropriating their work in any way?

Thank you.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali

www.africahistory.net<http://www.africahistory.net/>

________________________________

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of toyin adepoju [toyin....@googlemail.com]

Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 1:03 AM

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: PROFESSOR TOYIN FALOLA HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE CRITIQUES OF PHILIP EMEAGWALI

Gloria,

The problem with your defense of Oyibo is that you seem to be substituting a hypothetical situation for the actual situation.

You have tried to imagine Oyibo as a Black achiever and scientific maverick who needs to be defended from the scientific establishment when even Oyibo does not cast that himself in way.If you have any evidence that Oyibo does so,in terms of race at least, let u see it.

You also list Oyibo's peer reviewed papers in fields OTHER than his claim to fame,his Theory of Everything.You will agree that the argument is not about those contributions but about his Grand Unified Theory.

He did not get himself on a Nigerian postage stamp on account of claims from those publications.His Grand Unified Theory is the claim to fame he has been advertising.

Has it achieved what he claims for it?

Now,on your invocation of Kuhn,Popper and Feyerabend and of the sociology of science.You need to look carefully at the points you make and place them in context in order ti evaluate their degree of relevance in this instance. You are stating

1.That Oyibo's work might be too revolutionary for publication through normal academic channels.Ate you are of any ckaims by Oyibo to have tried to achieve that and failed? Does Oyibo not care for the assessment and peer recognition such assessment would bring if he is proven right? If he does not care,why is he so hard at work on self promotion in the Nigerian cetred media and Youtube? Even having himself put on Nigeria's postage stamp, a man who dies not raise a ripple in the international community of mathematicians of all races?

Is Oyibo arguing that of all the mathematicians in the world,he cannot do better than having only one,a fellow Nigerian-jn,review his book on his Unified Theory? I dont think you would do that to yourself if you were convinced you have made in that book a discovery that is a climax of humanity's quest for knowledge,a godlike achievement eloquently described by Afolabi " every field theory, every known physical force in the universe (gravity, electricity, magnetic force, nuclear weak and strong forces, everything[unified]in a single mathematical equation".

2. On your use of Kuhn and Popper.

First,Popper's falsifiability concept.That of course plays to the same point I am making. Scientific work needs to be examined in terms of whether or not it can be falsified in terms of the criteria that determines truth or falsehood in the relevant discipline.Does Oyibo's claim to have achieved a Unified Theory prove to be truthful or is the claim false?

Whatever Popper might have written about mind-body relationships he would not argue that Oyibo's work does not need to be assessed and by criteria that would judge whether or not it achieves the goals it claims.My understanding of Popper's career is that he worked to expand the criteria and make even more rigorous the scope of intellectual enquiry.This is the man who argued persuasively that Plato's Republic demonstrated him as an enemy of an open society and as having betrayed the spirit of Socrates.

2.As for Kuhn,his argument about the conditions that shape scientific revolution imply that a scientist should be assessed to understand the conditions that shape the character of their work and influence its reception and impact.In regard to Oyibo, we need to know why he is presenting his Grand Unified Theory work almost exclusively in non-scientific fora.We should not create a hypothetical case for him as you are trying to do.The answer to that will help determine why could get a PhD and publish peer reviewed papers through following the rules of his profession and now chooses to ignore them when his so called greatest work has emerged.Is he dodging the rigour of this assessment? If he believes he will not be understood,has he tried?

On your concluding points:

1."Dare Afolabi has peer reviewed Oyibo's work and mentioned that Pozzi, Carot, Animalu, and a few others have done so. Most importantly,he has actually read the papers of Oyibo. We really do appreciate the assessment. What say you, Toyin?"

I have invited Afolabi to let us know on what authority he declares that Oyibo has successfully developed a Grand Unified Theory.The papers he has reviewed are not on that theory which Oyibo claims as his right to fame.The argument is about the truth or falsehood of having successfully developed such a theory.

I am not a mathematician so I cannot claim to understand Oyibo's work much less assess it.My argument is that Oyibo is alone among those qualified to assess his work in claiming that he has developed a successful Unified Theory.Animalu,who reviewed his book on the subject, does not state Oyiobo has developed such a theory.He states Oyibo's work is a framwork for such a theory.Aflolabi state sthat Corot and Pozzi reviewed Oyibo's work on the Navier-Stokes equation.That work is not Oyibo's self declared claim to fame.

Why is there only one review of this purportedly fantastic work?

2."At this point in time I would like to ask a rather Popperian question directed at critics. What is wrong with GAGUT, in their perception- and here we should try to make a distinction between. Is GAGUT falsifiable?

3."And, as Kuhn would probably frame it, is there 'a paradigm shift' in Oyibo's GAGUT, that makes it difficult for members of the old, hard -core, inner circle to evaluate the theory? If so, how can we get around that impasse".

You need to ask,has Oyibo invited his peers to examine his work? Does he present it in a context that enables his work to invite serious investigation? That context is certainly not Youtube and newspapers.

If yiou really want this man's claims taken seriously by the scientific establishment and the world at large,get copies of his book where he develops his Grand Unified Theory and send it to mathematicians for assessment, preferably to academic journals and academic bodies.I am likely to do that soon myself.If it is a serious mathematical work, whether or not it achieves a successful Unified Theory,sooner or later,one is likely to get published reviews that will evaluate e it fairly.

Thanks

Toyin

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Gloria Emeagwali

www.africahistory.net<http://www.africahistory.net>

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com> [usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Dare Afolabi [afolab...@gmail.com<mailto:afolab...@gmail.com>]

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I see.

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By Dare Afolabi.

On Nov 19, 10:37 am, toyin adepoju <toyin.adep...@googlemail.com<mailto:toyin.adep...@googlemail.com>>

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> On 19 November 2010 11:31, Dare Afolabi <afolabi.d...@gmail.com<mailto:afolabi.d...@gmail.com>> wrote:

>

> > On a related note, I've responded to critics of Professor Gabriel

> > Oyibo in an article on Nigeria Village Square,

> > <http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/give-

> > gabriel-oyibo-a-break.html>.

>

> > Dare Afolabi.

>

> > On Nov 18, 7:32 pm, toyin adepoju <toyin.adep...@googlemail.com<mailto:toyin.adep...@googlemail.com>>

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