[Johnny Peppers]

It would be much easier to just quote the source that indicates that an asterisk shaped tool could not be used on relatively soft metal for a hardness test by the Germans. The test did not have to conform to anyone else's standards and as long as the same force was used to obtain a reading, a measureable indentation would the end result. After all, a round ball is also used for hardness testing.

If there is one thing that runs through the above thread it is the use of the word theory where hypothesis might be more appropriate. A theory is a formulation of apparent relationships of certain observed phenonomena which have been verified to a certain extent. Hypothesis is a conjecture or guess.