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Glaciation - Louis Agassiz is the name most associated with showing that Europe once lay under an ice sheet - he was originally a skeptic - Glacial theory history
Plate tectonics - Alfred Wegener - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics
In 1974, my geology professor said that when he started college in the mid 1950s, everyone laughed at this idea - by the time he finished his PhD, he had to know it. That is lightning speed in science.
Unclean hands as disease vectors - Ignaz Semmelweis - https://explorable.com/semmelweis-germ-theory
This is a particularly heart-breaking story, because he was driven out of his hospital position, which resulted in the continuing deaths of new mothers and the professional rejection eventually broke his own heart.
I don't know whether you should include evolution on this list or not. Certainly the overwhelming majority of biologists believe that "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" as Theodosius Dobzhansky said. Still, there are so many people around the world that don't accept it... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothin...t_of_Evolution
All good stuff, but the unclean hands one is my favorite of the three. As you stated it says, "Reaction to Semmelweis' Discovery
Although hugely successful; Semmelweis' discovery directly confronted with the beliefs of science and medicine in his time. His colleagues and other medical professionals refused to accept his findings mainly because they did not find it convincing that they could be responsible for spreading infections. The reaction reflected on his job as well when he was declined a reappointment in 1849.".
The very amusing part of all of this is that in our time many people will instantly reach for some Germ X right after doing most activities.
I wanted to ask for some help in researching something. I know that there has always been a battle between science and skeptics of science.
One such case was in the 1600's when Galileo presented that he believed the Earth revolved around the sun instead of the Sun revolving around the Earth. He was convicted of heresy by the Catholic Church even after he presented his technical argument. Galileo is convicted of heresy - Apr 12, 1633 - HISTORY.com
What are some other cases from the past in which people of a society denied scientific evidence that now seem to not be as debated?
The big one I think of is that there used to be a lot of people who denied that smoking cigarettes leads to addiction, and denied that it causes cancer.
Going on almost 100 years ago the Universe was collapsing because that is what the theory of gravity dictates. It's not, it's expanding and we know that from observation. From these observations has emerged the theory of Dark Energy and Dark Matter. There are other things that have been observed that do not follow the laws of gravity such as how stars move inside of galaxies. There is something very fundamental that is not understood about gravity.
Gravity as we know it may just be an illusion. It's always important to question everything..... Science is never settled and anyone that utters that term is quite frankly no different than some religious zealot.
Split the atom? Never. My eighth grade teacher stood before us saying "Some people think they can spit the atom. It cannot be done. The atom is the smallest (unit) in the universe. It cannot be split." (I can't remember exacty what she called the atom; so I use "unit".) Anyway, I wonder where she was in 1945.
The big one I think of is that there used to be a lot of people who denied that smoking cigarettes leads to addiction, and denied that it causes cancer.
A lot of anti-science minds miss the mark in understanding that scientific discoveries are not static...as technology advances it can't help to change the explanation for what people observed 150 years ago.
Quote:
When Gregor Mendel began his investigations of plant genetics in the 1800s, he worked alone — a middle-aged European monk counting peas in the abbey garden. One hundred and fifty years later, modern plant genetics laboratories, like Chelsea Specht's below, look a lot more diverse and employ the latest DNA sequencing techniques. When J.J. Thomson discovered a new particle of matter — the electron — at the turn of the century, his lab equipment mainly consisted of vacuum tubes, magnets, and some simple wiring. One hundred years later, scientists searching for new particles like the Higgs boson use a supercollider — a 17-mile-long machine that costs several billion dollars and will produce data to be analyzed by the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Science has come a long way in the last 150 years! We now have more powerful data analysis techniques, more sophisticated equipment for making observations and running experiments, and a much greater breadth and depth of scientific knowledge. And as the attitudes of the broader society have progressed, science has benefited from the expanding diversity of perspectives offered by its participants. But what about the process of science itself? Has this fundamental aspect of the scientific enterprise changed over time? Source: Berkeley Understanding Science website
On the first earth day Michael Mann warned us of global cooling, and it was settled science. Later he warns us of global warming, and it's settled science.
The climatologist Michael Mann was born in 1965. The first Earth Day was in 1970. You could stop right there, but I doubt you've had your fill of embarrassing yourself.
Global cooling - settled science? Umm... no. It wasn't. Global cooling received a bit of popular attention in the 1970s, but it was never approached consensus in the scientific community, much less was 'settled science'.
The reality is that between 1965 and 1979, the vast majority of peer-reviewed papers that supported glibal temperature change pointing to global warming, not global cooling (86%, in fact, or 44 to 7).
If such covers actually existed, your side wouldn't have to create fake ones to try and pass off as legit to gullible people like yourself, who buy them hook, line and sinker.
Plate tectonics - Alfred Wegener - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics
In 1974, my geology professor said that when he started college in the mid 1950s, everyone laughed at this idea - by the time he finished his PhD, he had to know it. That is lightning speed in science.
He is exaggerating about everybody laughing.
How we got from the original speculation that the continents drifted apart to plate tectonics is an example of how science works.
Originally people were skeptical because there was no explanation of how it could have happened - we just didn't know enough. It wasn't stubborn science denial.
As we developed more means better means of examining the make up the planet we found that it could happen. And thus, the theory of plate tectonics was accepted.
Science is a displine. It is a method of study. Science is observation and experimentation. The more that we experiment and the more we observe the more our thinking changes.
It is an interesting dichotomy, science deniers are very vocal, very noticeable often using something founded in a lab and now so ubiquitous as a platform and means of delivering their message. Ironic, really.
Also, I believe there is a marked difference between skepticism and denial.
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