From: ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de   
      
   Aether Regained  wrote or quoted:   
   |                                                              The   
   |evidence for the positron is a lot stronger than the evidence for say   
   |quarks.   
      
     We probably shouldn't think of these particles as something out   
     there on their own. They're more like tools we came up with so   
     we could build devices that work off those ideas. So, it's really   
     about whether a certain particle actually /comes in handy/.   
      
     The positron turned out to be pretty useful. Just look at the PET   
     (Positron Emission Tomography) scanner. There's a lot of solid proof   
     that PET scanners have helped save lives by letting doctors spot   
     how diseases are moving along and see if treatments are working.   
      
     (We look back now and think folks way back were clueless for   
     believing planets moved around the sun on /epicycles/. But   
     honestly, the ancient astronomers who came up with epicycles   
     - like Apollonius of Perga, Hipparchus, and especially Ptolemy -   
     didn't actually buy into that! They knew those were just /handy   
     tools/ for figuring out where the planets would be later on.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)