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Dorothy Copus Brush Paul Taylor has quite a story In the final days of 2001, 500 press releases
were sent to leading book stores across the country by 1st Books
Library. Datelined Crossville, TN, the message announced a new
book by one of our own, Paul F. Taylor. The slim, 150-page volume
includes 30 pages of appendix and is the third revised edition
by the author. Titled Earth, Suns and Solar System Gravitation
Theory, it is anything but dull. Threaded around the mathematical equations,
the author's wry sense of humor shows through, as well as his
respect for the universe. Chapter headings are an invitation
to read on. Titles such as "Eureka! Gravity's Joke Bared,"
"Mercury - The Tattletale Fireball" or "Pegasus
and the Golden Bridle" tease the imagination and stimulate
your curiosity. The short biography by the publisher explains
that Taylor was born in Crossville, Cumberland County, TN, in
May 1922, to Appalachian sharecropper parents. He attended Crossville
schools and graduated from Cumberland County High School. Following
graduation he began a civil service career at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. He served more than three years
in the U.S. Air Force during World War II and then returned to
Wright-Patterson at war's end. In 1956 he graduated from the
University of Dayton and then joined the Space Program at Cape
Canaveral. Taylor told me his interest in science was
sparked by his good friend, Ernest Wells, who built radios and
had a great interest in electronics. Together, the two formed
CCHS's first Science Club. Wells also worked in the Space Program
at Huntsville. To the question of how he came to write this
book an amazing story unfolded. After Taylor retired back to
Crossville, his health bothered him enough that in February 1992,
he went to the VA Hospital in Nashville. After a battery of tests,
the doctor gave him bad news. He had pancreatic cancer. The doctor
explained his options, and an 18 1/2-hour operation called the
Whipple procedure which might save his life. Taylor asked for some time to think about
it. He said, "I walked outside ... the sky was still blue,
but it was different; the birds were still chirping, but it was
different. I thought, hey, am I ever going to get better like
this and I went back in and told the doctor to get on with it." He continued, "They took out lots of
things, and I had several bad bouts after the operation, one
almost took my life, but I'm still here today!" When he was finally released from the hospital,
Taylor came back to Crossville and, as he sat at home alone,
he kept thinking, "Now what?" A voice answered, "Write
a book." Startled, he heard the same words a second time,
"Write a book." And he did. To write a book is quite a task, but even
harder is getting it published. I asked if he had an agent. The
answer was no, and he explained he had his completed manuscript
copyrighted in 1999. One day he received a phone call from 1st
Books Library expressing an interest in publishing the book.
One of their agents watches for and checks manuscripts that are
copyrighted, and they found his theory on gravitation interesting.
And now the book is available in hard back at $14.95 and soft
back for $9.95. Knowing how difficult it can be to convince
scientists to accept new ideas, I asked Taylor if he was prepared
for the stormy days ahead as the debate raged. He said, "My
theory on the gravitational constant is going to disturb the
scientific world but that's the way it's going to be." The February issue of Discover magazine lists
what is gravity as one of the 11 greatest unanswered questions
of physics. Taylor used basic math, no calculus or algebra, to
work out his solution to the gravitational constant, and he insists
anyone can grasp his solution. In his foreword to Earth, Suns and Solar Systems Gravitation Theory, Taylor wrote, "This book is written for the benefit of the least educated in Astronomy, as well as the greatest Astronomy minds in the world today, and all in between. May it serve as 'just another plank' making up the Astronomy threshold of the future." · · · |