Examples of disproved science

tfinch2

Lifer
Feb 3, 2004
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We've gone over some examples in class; phlogiston, ether, electricity as a liquid, but everyone seems to do those. Anyone have a suggestion, preferably nothing too esoteric. :)
 

J0hnny

Platinum Member
Jul 2, 2002
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Ben Franklin decided the electron would have a positive charge. Of course we know today, it's a negative charge, but in physics, we still assume the electron to be positive for certain examples.
 

Atlantean

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May 2, 2001
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Disproved science? How about using religious science as an example... things such as creationism have been disproved by things like evolution. Could use older examples like Copernicus's theory of the world's place in space.
 

Exterous

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Jun 20, 2006
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Pretty much anything having to do with the cosmos - being the center of the universe, the earth being flat...there are a ton. DOn't know if thats what you're looking for though
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
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According to my Aunt and her southern Baptist church, Radio-carbon dating isn't as accurate as they thought. She claimed that the Earth is not in fact the 6.4 billion years old, but much less....like whatever one of the books of the bible says.
 

tfinch2

Lifer
Feb 3, 2004
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Originally posted by: Atlantean
Disproved science? How about using religious science as an example... things such as creationism have been disproved by things like evolution. Could use older examples like Copernicus's theory of the world's place in space.

Oops forgot to mention, Religion is not allowed since we covered it in class.
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
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Continental drift as proposed by Wegner 1912. It was not really taken seriously until the 1960's. I have a Life magazine book from the early 1960's that put forth one of the theories at that time for mountain formation being "shrinkage" of the earth since formation.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
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The sun revolves around Earth
Seas on the Moon
Canals on Mars
The face on Mars
Newton's law as a universal constant
 

Turin39789

Lifer
Nov 21, 2000
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Originally posted by: Atlantean
Disproved science? How about using religious science as an example... things such as creationism have been disproved by things like evolution. Could use older examples like Copernicus's theory of the world's place in space.

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
According to my Aunt and her southern Baptist church, Radio-carbon dating isn't as accurate as they thought. She claimed that the Earth is not in fact the 6.4 billion years old, but much less....like whatever one of the books of the bible says.

I was going to go there, but wasn't sure that a flame war should be started in a thread where the guy was asking for honest advice. You would have gotten more funny points if you had stated that Evolution was a disproved science.





I have no actual suggestion for you OP, except maybe Flat World theory, but I've read that that wasn't actually widely believed back in columbus days.
 

CollectiveUnconscious

Senior member
Jan 27, 2006
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Most of the early neurological models for motivation of behavior (E.g. McDougall's hydraulic-->gaseous model, Lorenz's gaseous-->psychohydraulic model)
 

Schadenfroh

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Mar 8, 2003
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Transmission of acquired traits to offspring / lamarckianism (spelling?), so widely accepted that even Charles Darwin believed it, IIRC.

Multiregional theory of Evolution is another good one, I think it has been disproved recently (last few decades) by mitochondrial research in favor of the Out-of-Africa model?

Oh yeh, the theory of noble gasses being totally inert is BS, you can get them to react, but that is only under extreme conditions.
 

WildHorse

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Jun 29, 2003
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Originally posted by: Strk
Alchemy

But wait a second on that one . . .

alchemy is a metaphor for the birth of spiritually-oriented man from out of animal-oriented man (when the heart center opens).

Alchemy's all about spiritual transformation. Only the ignorant (when learning was reserved to the priestly class) misunderstood it as converting physical base metal into literal physical gold.

So that'd be relevant as an inner psychological transformation, IF that's science, rather than as what's traditionally called science.

Don't mean to stomp on your point there, Strk, but just wanted to springboard off your point in order to spout all that.
No hard feelings!

:cookie: