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Re: Success in scientific theory



At 10:51 AM -0800 1/6/01, Carl C. Gaither wrote:
Hello All--

I came across this quote by H. Dingle (1937) in his book Through Science
to Philosophy (p. 75).

"Success in scientific theory is won, not by rigid adherence to the
rules of logic, but by bold speculation which dares even to break those
rules if by that means new regions of interest may be opened up."

Dingle also believed that the twin paradox conclusively falsified
special relativity, so his philosophical pretensions are somewhat
tainted. Einstein, of course, is the Gegenbeispiel who exemplifies
the geat power of the logical development to advance science. In
the fifties Dingle used flawed logic to attack relativity. Thus
his distaste for such an approach to understanding Nature is hard
to understand.

Leigh