The last thing the neutrino experiment needs is the misconceptions Mr. Stratton expressed in “Neutrinos: friend or foe?� (Letters, March 17-24). With polls showing a 4-to-1 margin in favor of it, the public understands its importance, unlike Mr. Stratton.

Let me make it clear: Mr. Stratton’s letter is wrong. He simply refuses to accept well-documented experimental results — specifically, the universe does not behave as the everyday world does.

For the specifics:

1) Neutrinos do have mass. This has been known for years. I suggest he read the web site references previously listed.

2) Einstein’s space-time is correct. No experiment has disproved relativity. GPS equipment requires general and special relativity corrections to work!

3) There are at least four dimensions to our universe — three space coordinates and time.

4) Big Bang evidence is overwhelming. Not a single experiment suggests it is wrong. People will keep trying, and this is important. Science is science because it doesn’t stick to theories that don’t work. Rather it continually tests those that seem to work. Mr. Stratton ignores the many experiments in well-respected (refereed) journals on neutrino mass, the Big Bang, and relativity. Mr. Stratton’s physics cannot explain these.

If the neutrino experiment were irrelevant, why is it listed near the top of the “must do� list by scientists around the world? $60 million is relatively inexpensive for an elementary particle experiment, and the payback in understanding the structure and evolution of our universe is enormous. It should be performed at the best location in the world: Diablo Canyon.

Anthony J. Buffa, Ph.D.

Professor of physics, Cal Poly