Re: [Phys-l] Is this true?

[Chuck Britton <cvbritton@earthlink.net>]

At 5:01  -0700 on 10/28/06, Bernard Cleyet wrote concerning [Phys-l] 
Is this true? :

>  history provides a nice illustration of a point
> made by Aristotle:
>
>     Lack of experience diminishes our power of taking a comprehensive
>     view of the admitted facts. Hence those who dwell in intimate
>     association with nature and its phenomena are more able to lay down
>     principles such as to admit of a wide and coherent development;
>     while those whom devotion to abstract discussions has rendered
>     unobservant of facts are too ready to dogmatize on the basis of a
>     few observations.

My very limited familiarity with Aristotle and his 'science' make me 
very skeptical of or at least amused by this passage.

Aristotle 'knew' that men had one fewer ribs than did women - because 
of the (even then) ancient creation stories.

He stated the wrong number of teeth for humans - probably because he 
had his slaves perform the counting and the available corpses didn't 
have good dental histories.