James Carter is a fringe theorist whose theory of "circlons" attempts to replace the existing theories of relativity,

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

, and the

big bang theory The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

with the idea that everything is made up of circular objects that interact in a mechanical way.

Freeman Dyson Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was an English-American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum m ...

, "Science on the Rampage", ''New York Review of Books'', April 5, 2012, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/apr/05/science-rampage-natural-philosophy/Margaret Wertheim, "Jim Carter", ''Physics on the Fringe'' website, http://physicsonthefringe.com/page/about-jim-carter His ideas are not the subject of serious scientific attention, although he has been studied by writers on

fringe science Fringe science refers to ideas whose attributes include being highly speculative or relying on premises already refuted. Fringe science theories are often advanced by persons who have no traditional academic science background, or by researchers ...

and been the subject of exhibitions in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

.David Pagel, "An Imaginative Connection Between Art and Science", ''L.A. Times'', May 1, 2002, http://articles.latimes.com/2002/may/01/entertainment/et-pagel1 Writer

Margaret Wertheim Margaret Wertheim (born 20 August 1958) is an Australian-born science writer, curator, and artist based in the United States. She is the author of books on the cultural history of physics, and has written about science, including for the ''New Yo ...

called him "the Leonardo da Vinci of fringe theorists", and wrote a book about him, ''Physics on the Fringe''. She also produced a documentary about him called ''It’s Jim’s World - We Just Live In It''.Jascha Hoffman, "Q&A: The outsider insider", ''Nature'', November 3, 2011, vol. 479, issue 7371, p. 40.

Life

In the 1970s, Carter worked as an

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...

diver, and invented Carter Lift Bags,

flotation device A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suite that is worn by a ...

s to bring sunken objects to the ocean's surface. He now manufactures and sells these lift bags. He has also worked as a gold miner, and now owns a trailer park in

Enumclaw, Washington Enumclaw ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 12,543 at the 2020 census. The Enumclaw Plateau, on which the city resides, was formed by a volcanic mudflow (lahar) from Mount Rainier approximately 5,700 y ...

Theories

According to Carter, the universe is composed of what he calls "circlons", ring-like structures like "atomic LEGO blocks, interlocking rings that snap together to form all the elements". He proposes that instead of the Big Bang theory, the universe began when two circlons combined and mated, subdividing to make up all the matter in the universe. His theory is mechanistic, and does not involve

action at a distance In physics, action at a distance is the concept that an object can be affected without being physically touched (as in mechanical contact) by another object. That is, it is the non-local interaction of objects that are separated in space. Non-c ...

. He explains

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

as due to the constant expansion of the universe. He derived his theories from experiments involving smoke rings, which he sees as forming analogies for the workings of circlons. His theories and experiments resemble those of 19th century scientists

Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), Professor of Natural Philoso ...

and

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE (28 April 1831 – 4 July 1901) was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook '' Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he co-wrote wi ...

Exhibitions

An exhibition about Carter's theories was held at the

Santa Monica Museum of Art The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), formerly known as the Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA), is a contemporary art museum in Los Angeles, CA. As an independent and non-collecting art museum (or kunsthalle), it exhibits the ...

, in

in 2002, curated by Margaret Wertheim. The exhibition included video animations, models and diagrams. Another exhibition on his work opened at the Institute For Figuring gallery in Los Angeles in December 2011.

References

External links

The Living Universe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Jim Living people People from Enumclaw, Washington Pseudoscientific physicists Year of birth missing (living people)