Short Stories
of Science and Invention

A Collection of Radio Talks by
Charles F. Kettering

INDEX

5.  Experiment vs. Theory


Pisa     In answer to the challenge, his demonstration was to be made from the Leaning Tower of Pisa before a large audience of University people. That is the time, you will remember, when he dropped a ten pound iron ball and a one pound iron ball simul­taneously from the top of the Tower. Much to the amazement and cha­grin of everyone but Galileo, the two balls hit the ground at the same time. But that did not convince the crowd. They hissed Galileo, accused him of being a magician and went on following Aristotle.

300 years have passed since Gal­ileo died, but even today we are faced with the same problem: just when should we discard information that has been useful in the past? This problem worries everyone who teaches, as well as every scientist and engineer. The value of informa­tion is not a question of how old or new it is.


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