Kepler, however, had the advantage of belonging to the
new school. He utilised the observations of Tycho in developing the
great Copernican theory whose teaching Tycho stoutly resisted.
Perhaps a chapter in modern science may illustrate the intellectual
relation of these great men. The revolution produced by Copernicus
in the doctrine of the heavens has often been likened to the
revolution which the Darwinian theory produced in the views held by
biologists as to life on this earth. The Darwinian theory did not at
first command universal assent even among those naturalists whose
lives had been devoted with the greatest success to the study of
organisms. Take, for instance, that great naturalist, Professor
Owen, by whose labours vast extension has been given to our knowledge
of the fossil animals which dwelt on the earth in past ages. Now,
though Owens researches were intimately connected with the great
labours of Darwin, and afforded the latter material for his
epoch-making generalization, yet Owen deliberately refused to accept
the new doctrines. Like Tycho, he kept on rigidly accumulating his
facts under the influence of a set of ideas as to the origin of
living forms which are now universally admitted to be erroneous.
Pages:
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125