I imagine the two lines of scientists, peer-ranked Geologists and Evolutionary Biologists, lining up Pro-evolution and Anti-evolution. One line is considerably shorter than the other.
I posted on the topic of democracy, the majority by historical precedent is usually wrong on matters of great import, but it is a little different in science.
Einstein and the Wright brothers "proved everyone wrong" in very different ways. Einstein's proof required very careful observations of minute or very large phenomena, and not that for most purposes Newtonian Physics was "wrong", just that it was incomplete. But others had already figured out that there were problems with some kinds of experiments.
The Wright Bros. OTOH, proved people wrong practically. Now if you consider the state of engineering in 1900 or so, it was many, many years behind the theoretical physics (and most engineers were not physicists). Physics had a hard time with POWERED flight, not so much because they thought it was not possible, because clearly, birds flew.
What they doubted was the ability of people to create powerplants that were sufficiently powerful and airframes sufficiently strong to produce a higher lift and thrust than the drag and mass produced by such a large structure. People had been flying balloons since the mid 1700's on the Jardin de Tuileries. And gliders had been around for a long time, possibly before that. What was doubted (for good reason) was the ability of PEOPLE to build such structures.
The issue was one largely of engineering and not one of fundamental theory. Everyone agreed that IN THEORY flight was possible, just like IN THEORY I could transport myself through a Black Hole. Most scientists today would say that as a practical matter that is impossible. But there can be breakthroughs. |
