Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Sunspots (We Crawl By Inches)


"Before assuming these phenomena are [sun]spots, which would suit us, let us first set about proving that they are not - fried fish. We crawl by inches. What we find today we will wipe from the blackboard and reject it - unless it shows up again the day after tomorrow. And if we find anything which would suit us, that thing we will eye with particular distrust. In fact, we will approach this observing of the sun with the implacable determination to prove that the earth stands still, and only if hopelessly defeated in this pious undertaking can we allow ourselves to wonder whether we may not have been right all the time: the earth revolves."

-Galileo, as imagined by Bertolt Brecht (thanks to the Red-Haired Radical for the quote)



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