[The steady-state theory] was a minority view, but [Hoyle] and a few like-minded theorists were able to keep the plate spinning for years. Another Cambridge luminary, Martin Ryle, finally brought it crashing down. An irascible, hardheaded experimenter, Ryle thought theorists like Hoyle were daffy. In a colloquium on sunspots, Mitton reports, Ryle became so incensed by Hoyle's speculations that he dashed to the blackboard and angrily erased the equations.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A minority scientific theory persisted until experimental evidence disproved it decisively.
- In plain terms
- A small group kept a theory alive until data ended it.
- What can you take from it?
- Evidence eventually overrides even persistent minority theories.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When has evidence changed your mind on a belief?
- How do you react when theories are challenged?
Another view
Ideological battles in science can delay progress without clear evidence.
More from Martin Ryle
The glorious years of discovery in radio astronomy in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge were dominated by the personality of Martin Ryle.
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