Public, Pointed Scientific Spats—Feature, Not Bug

There’s a common trope in science in which a lone genius stands defiantly against a backward, close-minded establishment. Galileo’s Sun-centric astronomy vs. the Catholic Church; John Harrison’s longitude-revealing watch vs. the bigwigs who refused to accept it; Alfred Wegener’s theory of plate tectonics vs. obstinate geologists. We love stories of the underdog. But this view of science promotes the powerful misconception that heated arguments and opposition to new ideas represent a failure of science. In fact, they are a sign of its strength.