The Four Corners of Kosmos – 8 of 8

Dear Souls,

This is the Eighth, and last of a series of eight blogs (4 blogs with 2 parts each blog that will be presented one per week) where I present the basics of the book my late Father-In-Law Dennis Milner, completed just before his ascension – Kosmos.

4b – A Scientific Basis for Homeopathy, a note on Morphology, and                        How the Research came about

On Morphology – Continued

We found that these forms were determined by the degree of dynamic stress between a moving part and the environment into which it was moving, fig. 14, and that quite different systems differentiate in similar ways.  This suggests that there are basic morphological principles underlying the generation of forms if only we could tease them out.  Then, when we see a form in Nature it would tell us what the underlying principle is that is being expressed, how it is doing this and its role in the pattern of development of the whole, to give us a better understanding of the world we live in, in the same way that by observing the behaviour of human beings we get to understand their natures and roles in the pattern of human development and evolution.  We think that the morphology of forms is a neglected area that has considerable potential for development and it does not require high-powered or expensive equipment, only powers of observation and insight.

a   b 

c 

Fig.14 a to c. The morphologies taken up by droplets of liquid spreading onto thin layers of another liquid of increasing viscosity (increasing resistance).

How the research came about

When we get towards the end of our life and look back on what we have done, we all probably feel that there are many things that we could have done better or carried further.  I feel this very strongly about my career as a scientist.  Much of my work was along traditional lines which can easily be carried on by someone else if required but, as I will explain, I also became involved in some non main-stream researches, where we only scratched the surface of what could have great potential for further development.  The purpose of these articles is to outline this work so that interested readers can carry it further.

We all bring to our activities an outlook and orientation that derives from our background and experiences, so I need to summarise the main features of my own development and outlook, that underlie my approach in the work I have described.

Early life Experiences

I grew up in the war years and lived in London during the blitz.  At school I enjoyed chemistry and physics because they had a practical element to them.  I left school at 16 and for two years worked in the analytical laboratory of an old Dickensian era pharmaceutical firm.  Then, because of my experiences in the blitz, as soon as I was old enough I joined the RAF to be a fighter pilot.  However the European war ended while I was training and the atom bombs were dropped on Japan; so my flying career came to an end and I spent the rest of my time in the RAF in occupied Europe, experiencing different cultures and meeting people with a variety of outlooks.  Overall this was a period that greatly broadened my experience and outlook.

On demobilisation, I went to University, choosing to study physics as it claimed to offer a basic understanding of phenomena. The department head had been a member of Rutherford’s group at Cambridge and he took us through all the experimental and theoretical developments that led to modern atomic physics and quantum theory, which was a wonderful illustration of the power and clarity of science.

The prevailing attitude was that physics was the way to understand everything, which I found difficult to reconcile with my previous life experiences, in which I had met many admirable people making a significant contribution to life, who knew nothing of physics.  The key feature had been the ‘human spirit’; the way that, despite the devastation of the German blitz, people carried on with their lives and helped each other, the comradeship and courage of servicemen and women, how people who had not been dealt any cards for the luxuries of life made something of themselves, the spirit of adventure in the RAF.  These experiences could not be explained in terms of atoms and mathematical equations.  I felt that any truly basic understanding should throw light on the meaning and purpose of existence, but there was nothing of this in physics.

I wanted to pursue a career that combined the questing and clarity of science with a broader life activity and a couple of years in an industrial research laboratory and a master’s degree in the physics of metals opened the way for me to move into the more wide-ranging field of metallurgy

I wanted to pursue a career that combined the questing and clarity of science with a broader life activity and a couple of years in an industrial research laboratory and a master’s degree in the physics of metals opened the way for me to move into the more wide-ranging field of metallurgy

Becoming a practising scientist

I joined the Department of Metallurgy at Birmingham University to run a research group sponsored by Harwell.  Harwell had the problem of constructing fuel elements for their atomic reactors.  They put the radio-active material into a tube and fixed an end cap in place by welding and brazing but there was no scientific understanding of these processes so they sponsored research into them at the University.

From this beginning, for nearly forty years I ran a group of PhD students researching into the scientific principles of metallurgical processes.  I found this work fulfilling; it gave me a lot of experience of applying science to a range of practical activities, and it gained me a Doctor of Science degree.

From this beginning, for nearly forty years I ran a group of PhD students researching into the scientific principles of metallurgical processes.  I found this work fulfilling; it gave me a lot of experience of applying science to a range of practical activities, and it gained me a Doctor of Science degree.

Some researches were more successful than others.  This was partly due to the topic, but I realised that a key feature was my and the students’ creativity.   Thinking that creativity is a function of the mind, I looked for an understanding of it in psychology, but I found that psychologists do not know what the human mind is and argue about whether it is the way the brain works or something separate that acts on/through the brain. This led me to parapsychology and its evidence for post-mortem existence, out-of the body experiences and reincarnation, which suggest that the mind is separate from the body.  If this is so, what exactly is the mind and how does it interact with the body?  Seeking answers to these questions led to the works of mystics who claim that man is essentially a feeling-soul/thinking-spirit; the workings of which are seen as auras of activity permeating and surrounding the physical body. There are lesser auras of (feeling/astral) activity associated with animals and (living/etheric/will) activity associated with plants.  Looking into ‘auric activities’ offered a bigger and more interesting challenge.  We picked up on the work of Dr Baraduc and developed an electrophotography technique by which we seemed to be able to photograph etheric forces.  Our pursuit of an understanding of these led us to a view on the origin and evolution of the Universe¹.

These blogs are based upon a series of 4 articles written by Dennis to help promote Kosmos to Distributors, Book Shops and Universities.

Dennis Milner D.Sc., F.I.M., F.Inst.P., C.Eng., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Birmingham, England, UK. 17 July 1924 to 23 November 2011

References

1. MILNER, Dennis, Kosmos: An Evolutionary-Wholistic Account of Creation, Authors Online, Bedfordshire, England, 2006
2. Besant, Annie and Leadbeater, Charles. W. Occult Chemistry;  Investigations by Clairvoyant Magnification into the Structure of the Atoms of the Periodic Table and Some Compounds, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Madras, India. 1951
3. Lockie, Andrew,  The Family Guide to Homeopathy, Penguin, London. 1989

4. Sellman, Sherrill, An Effective Solution to the Obesity Problem, Nexus, June-July 2010, p. 17.

5. Ullman, Dana, Homeopathy: Europe’s Leading Alternative Medicine, Nexus,                            October-November 2010, p.23.

6. Trivieri, Larry and Anderson, John. (Editors), Alternative Medicine, The Definitive Guide, Celestial Arts, Berkeley, 2002.