On the other hand, when the ether theory is STILL
treated as fact in a 1950s encyclopedia as was
described, I think that we can safely call that a
misconception. We were also perfectly justified for
years in thinking that atoms could not be split, but
when my high school biology teacher told my class
(in 1991) that atoms were indivisible, that certainly
was a misconception as well.
Julie Montgomery
-----Original Message-----
From: FOUAD AJAMI [mailto:ajami@NETCOM.CA]
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 8:45 PM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Re: wrong physics explanations-misconceptions
I would not consider the ether theory, (or even the Ptolemaic astronomy) to
be misconceptions. At the time, it served a purpose, and it was not designed
to mislead.
We owe our predecessors some respect. There are some things we accept now
that will be overturned in a few years, or a few centuries.