Aristotelian thoughts--reasons, syllogisms
Founded on the crystal spheres
The primum mobile
The size, the weight
Millennial acceptance lost to heresies
Galileo and his stones
The novel size and weight thus refute
Copernicus through math
Heliocentric lies to the forefront
And in the hands of Bacon
The syllogisms fall
For scientific methods thrive
Where human nature errs
What is accepted
What is known
What is thought to be
It takes millennia to breed and squelch
What treble lies are wrought in iron law
But where Aristotle--logic's son--fell
Could not Newton, Einstein also slip?
Haughty deem fact what theory claims probable
Often forgot--every generation has its lies
Doctors rarely remember their grammar school studies
And place confidence in what is established as fallible
Let human nature run its course
And separate the wheat from the chaff
Author notes
An Historical perspective on what seems a rather lofty quote...
(Albert A. Michelson) in 1894, "The more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have been discovered, and these are now so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplanted in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote... Future discoveries must be looked for in the sixth place of decimals."
--Albert A. Michelson, 1894
A contest entry
- Quote Inspired- Science by Atrus.
700 points, ended March 3, 2008, 8 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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Thank you- you've just given a very interesting summary of the greatest minds- Aristotle, Galileo, Copernicus, Bacon, Newton, and Einstein! Great piece you have here.
Science is always such an intriguing and never-ending journey.
Three cheers! -
smart peice
1.Content: Nice portrayal of the dynamic nature of scientific knowledge and its inevitable evolution. science is not stagnant, and only is only so when simple human hubris blinds the eyes of great minds, and constrains their thoughts among convetional, well worn paths. The essence of good science it to defy Michelson's Victorian arrogance- science is nothing if not revolutionary and antiauthoritarian at its core.
2
orm- very sophisticated and well designed piece. Excellent.
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Thank you for this poem, it was exactly what I was looking for with my contest. It will be exciting to see how the ideas of Newton and Einstein are added onto and challenged within our lifetimes.
There's a nice musicality to the lines, "It takes millennia to breed and squelch/ what treble lies are wrought in iron law."
Other things I liked about this poem -- the historical journey you take us through older scientific thought and the way the end of the poem returns to a much simpler scientific discovery (separating what from the chaff). The title of the poem also serves the concepts well. Good jo
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