If I figured out the unified theory of everything and...

[Just_me_Mike]

... could show it in scientific, testable terms, how would I go about publishing it or asking other scientists to look at it without losing my work to a thief?

 

[Arav]

Is this for real?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

In the UK all published work is automaticaly copyright.
To publish means to make public.
If you print out your work and have it notarised it would be protected here.
Not sure about the USA....

Someone will figure it out one day.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Submit copies of your theory to reputable peer reviewed scientific publications...and be prepared to defend your findings.

(Also, keep a copy in a safe deposit box where records are kept of when and by whom it is accessed)

 

[Just_me_Mike]

Thanks TW...

 

[Tiapan]

That depends on what you are unifying. The trick most physicists are trying to achieve is to bring gravity into the equation with the other forces. Weak Nuclear, Strong Nuclear and electromagnetic.

The Fundamental Forces of NatureThe Tortoise and the Hare: Gravity Always Wins

The four fundamental forces all play central roles in making the Universe what it is today, but with respect to the large-scale issues that are of interest to cosmology it is gravitation that is most important. This is because of two of its basic properties that set it apart from the other forces: (1) it is long-ranged and thus can act over cosmological distances, and (2) it always supplies an attractive force between any two pieces of matter in the Universe. Thus, although gravitation is extremely weak, it always wins over cosmological distances and therefore is the most important force for the understanding of the large scale structure and evolution of the Universe.

I print out my ideas put them in an envelope sealit up securely and in a fashion that would show any tampering, take it to the post office and send it to myself. That way it is officially date stamped. Copyright is the same here in OZ as England. The Americans have a weird patent system different to everyone else but copyright law may be the same.

Cheers

 

[angellous_evangellous]

... could show it in scientific, testable terms, how would I go about publishing it or asking other scientists to look at it without losing my work to a thief?

Best way is to print out your theory and mail it to yourself. Don't open the package unless you need it to prove that you had the theory first.

Second best is emailing it to yourself --- both of these methods have time stamps.

I do this and put it my safe deposit box. [and I make two copies]

As for publishing, find an academic journal [after you have a time stamped copy for yourself] and follow their steps to publishing. I haven't heard of anyone getting screwed by sending their work to a journal or book publishing company.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

That depends on what you are unifying. The trick most physicists are trying to achieve is to bring gravity into the equation with the other forces. Weak Nuclear, Strong Nuclear and electromagnetic.



I print out my ideas put them in an envelope sealit up securely and in a fashion that would show any tampering, take it to the post office and send it to myself. That way it is officially date stamped. Copyright is the same here in OZ as England. The Americans have a weird patent system different to everyone else but copyright law may be the same.

Cheers

Yes, that is what I have achieved. The giant gravity leap. It is perhaps the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I'm still going over it again and again, but I had a mathematician with me who said it seems very sound. He is a good friend, but not a physicist. So I really need to sit down with one that is on their game. Anyway thanks for the suggestions...

Best way is to print out your theory and mail it to yourself. Don't open the package unless you need it to prove that you had the theory first.

Second best is emailing it to yourself --- both of these methods have time stamps.

I do this and put it my safe deposit box. [and I make two copies]

As for publishing, find an academic journal [after you have a time stamped copy for yourself] and follow their steps to publishing. I haven't heard of anyone getting screwed by sending their work to a journal or book publishing company.

I'll take this advice. Thanks...

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Yes, that is what I have achieved.

Just for what it's worth - don't hold your breath about publishing your work.

My two cents: look at the journals in which you think that they are interested in your work. You will only be able to submit it to one journal at a time, and the review process can take up to three months. If your work is rejected by the first journal, revise it a bit, and send it to the next journal.

It's also wise to read an entire issue of the latest edition of a journal to see what kind of work they accept.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Best way is to print out your theory and mail it to yourself. Don't open the package unless you need it to prove that you had the theory first.

FYI - I've had a lawyer tell me that the whole "mail a copy to yourself" tactic doesn't hold a whole lot of weight in court, because a person could always mail an empty, unsealed envelope to themselves and put whatever they want in it later.

And on a somewhat related story: my sister's boyfriend is a psychology professor. He occasionally has to peer-review papers for journals. Recently, while going over a paper, he realized that about a third of it was lifted word-for-word from one of his. He checked further, and found that other parts were lifted from a paper by a colleague of his... complete with the typos in the original. Neither of them were even cited as sources.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

Do we have any physicists here on the RF?

 

[angellous_evangellous]

FYI - I've had a lawyer tell me that the whole "mail a copy to yourself" tactic doesn't hold a whole lot of weight in court, because a person could always mail an empty, unsealed envelope to themselves and put whatever they want in it later.

And on a somewhat related story: my sister's boyfriend is a psychology professor. He occasionally has to peer-review papers for journals. Recently, while going over a paper, he realized that about a third of it was lifted word-for-word from one of his. He checked further, and found that other parts were lifted from a paper by a colleague of his... complete with the typos in the original. Neither of them were even cited as sources.

I wonder if this would work with a safe deposit box would negate this?

That is, there's a record of when the box is opened.

 

[Reptillian]

I feel compelled to answer this question since I have a masters degree in physics. I would suggest writing up a paper for a respected scientific journal then having it reviewed by peers prior to submission. The main thing is that it makes testable predictions and that it correlates with observations. It helps if you have some advanced mathematics to back up your claim. Ususally math will help to pin down your idea and make your ideas explicit to other scientists. Do you have a background or degree in mathematics/science? I ask because, as a physicist, I would be suspicious of anyone who claims to have a GUT or TOE who doesn't know what a Lagrangian is, understand Maxwell's equations, or can't do things like solve Schrodinger's equation...

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I would be suspicious of anyone who claims to have a GUT or TOE who doesn't know what a Lagrangian is, understand Maxwell's equations, or can't do things like solve Schrodinger's equation...

I'm suspicious about someone who claims to have GUT or TOE even if they have those qualifications.

Schrodinger's equation really doesn't need to be solved: the GUT or TOE theory could disprove Schrodinger and support his opponents or further support Hawkings or even Eienstien.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

I feel compelled to answer this question since I have a masters degree in physics. I would suggest writing up a paper for a respected scientific journal then having it reviewed by peers prior to submission. The main thing is that it makes testable predictions and that it correlates with observations. It helps if you have some advanced mathematics to back up your claim. Ususally math will help to pin down your idea and make your ideas explicit to other scientists. Do you have a background or degree in mathematics/science? I ask because, as a physicist, I would be suspicious of anyone who claims to have a GUT or TOE who doesn't know what a Lagrangian is, understand Maxwell's equations, or can't do things like solve Schrodinger's equation...

Thanks for the reply... No I am only a novice when it comes to physics. Which is why I want to work with a physicist to help with the equations.

Part of a separate by related idea, is the complexities that govern most of our forces and how we have understood them is in part because of faulty framework.

Imagine humans have never seen a hand before and then we stumble upon a hand completely severed from it's body (and the body no where to be found), yet fully functional. We find the hand and have to do thousands of calculations and formulas mixed with best guesses to deduct its origin, purpose, where and how it fits to whatever it belonged to. Could we have ever guessed the host it belonged to also had a foot, or hip, or whatever...

Whereas if we found the body it was attached to, many of the complexities would disappear, and maybe new ones would certainly arise, but this is a simple analogy to explain where I am coming from.

 

[Reptillian]

I'm suspicious about someone who claims to have GUT or TOE even if they have those qualifications.

Schrodinger's equation really doesn't need to be solved: the GUT or TOE theory could disprove Schrodinger and support his opponents or further support Hawkings or even Eienstien.

I know those might not be required knowledge for a TOE or GUT, I guess my point was that if you can't do the basic stuff, I wouldn't expect anything profound. But I'm willing to keep and open mind and be suprised...after all, as Einstein pointed out, physics is just a refinement of everyday thinking.

 

[ATAT]

I think the best way is to mail multiple copies to a half dozen publications and a few professors you trust. If any one of them steal the idea, there is evidence that it's already known.

Consider going to a local college, the day after you drop your mail in the box, and hand a few copies out to professors with a five or ten dollar bill, ask them to just sit on it for two months because you've got the cure to cancer (or whatever). Tell them they can read it any time they want and throw it away after 90 days or a year or whatever. Don't be wide-eyed, just be calm and tell them it's "possible" this is a good idea, you just want to cover your bases. Tell them that they are one of multiple deposits.

You can also get a copy notarized with the date, who knows?

 

[Reptillian]

Thanks for the reply... No I am only a novice when it comes to physics. Which is why I want to work with a physicist to help with the equations.

Part of a separate by related idea, is the complexities that govern most of our forces and how we have understood them is in part because of faulty framework.

Imagine humans have never seen a hand before and then we stumble upon a hand completely severed from it's body (and the body no where to be found), yet fully functional. We find the hand and have to do thousands of calculations and formulas mixed with best guesses to deduct its origin, purpose, where and how it fits to whatever it belonged to. Could we have ever guessed the host it belonged to also had a foot, or hip, or whatever...

Whereas if we found the body it was attached to, many of the complexities would disappear, and maybe new ones would certainly arise, but this is a simple analogy to explain where I am coming from.

My suggestion is to read read read and learn learn learn. The more you know about math and physics the better. This way you'll be familiar with the language physicists use. It would help to have a good understanding of physics so you can work out the ramifications of your idea and explain it in detail to others.

 

[Reptillian]

So that you don't get discouraged, here is a quote from Galileo that I've always found inspiring: "In matters of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual."

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I wonder if this would work with a safe deposit box would negate this?

That is, there's a record of when the box is opened.

Maybe, I guess. But that would mean you'd have to put the item in there and never open the box again. This would mean you'd have to have a separate safety deposit box for each article/paper/idea/etc. That could get expensive quickly.