[meteorite-list] The Problems with Reductionism ad infinitum

[John Birdsell]

Dear Adam and list. Adam as we follow your argument, we find some 
potential problems. As we understand it you bought a handful of putative 
meteorite fragments (118g) from a moroccan who told you they all came 
from the same strewn field. If you were not actually there when all 118g 
were unearthed, you are then simply relying on the word of the person 
that you purchased your samples from that they all came from the same 
location. You then had thin sections made from one or two of these 
fragments and they were classified as picritic shergottites and assigned 
the provisional name of NWA 1110-(please jump in and correct us if we 
are getting our facts wrong). Then, a planetary scientist looked at the 
rest of your fragments and told you that, by eye-balling them, they were 
consistent with the one or two which had actually been micro-probed. If 
this is the scenerio, then techinally speaking I don't think you can 
really acertain whether the un-analyzed fragments are truely paired to 
the analyzed fragments anymore than other dealers (or planetary 
scientists) can claim that the fragments they purchased from moroccan 
suppliers are paired to the official NWA 1110 without micro probe 
analysis.  If we follow your argument to its ultimate conclusion you 
would have to ask the lab to make thin sections and perform microprobe 
analyses on each and every fragment that you purchased. This is 
particularily true in this case in which multiple picritic shergotite 
samples are coming out of Morocco. This is obviously ridiculous and no 
one would expect anyone to have such an analysis performed as it would 
waste the scientists time. This said, if you really want to insist on a 
strict adherence to the rules, as you appear to be doing, then no one 
can legitimately claim that the un-analyzed fragments in your 118g 
sample are paired with NWA 1110 until they have actually been 
microprobed by a qualified planetary scientist.  Judging by the 
fragments of NWA 1110 that you have been selling on ebay, it does not 
appear that any of these have even had a window polished into their 
surface let alone a thin section made from them. I don't know of any 
planetary scientist capable of accurately classifying a tiny meteorite 
fragment by just looking at its exterior, especially when comparing one 
shergottite to another. Just how strictly do you want to adhere to the 
"correct" procedures for classifying these samples?


Just my two cents worth...


-John