In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy the super computer Deep Thought predicts that the number "42" is the ultimate answer and key to the Universe. Oddly enough a team of Australian astrophyicists have concluded that our galaxy weighs three times 10 to the power of 42 kilograms - a number written as 3 followed by 42 zeroes.
Here are ten predictions that Earth-bound experts made that didn't come true complied by Anthony Watts:
1. “Telltale signs are everywhere —from the unexpected persistence and thickness of pack ice in the waters around Iceland to the southward migration of a warmth-loving creature like the armadillo from the Midwest. Since the 1940s the mean global temperature has dropped about 2.7° F.” — Climatologist George J. Kukla of Columbia University in Time Magazine’s June 24th, 1975 article Another Ice Age?
2. “Stomach ulcers are caused by stress” — accepted medical diagnosis, until Dr. Marshall proved that H. pylori caused gastric inflammation by deliberately infecting himself with the bacterium.
3. “If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.” — Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M “Post-It” Notepads.
4. “Space travel is bunk.” — Sir Harold Spencer Jones, Astronomer Royal of the UK, 1957 (two weeks later Sputnik orbited the Earth).
5. “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.” — Albert Einstein, 1932
6. “Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax.” — William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British scientist, 1899.
7. “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
8. “That virus is a pussycat.” — Dr. Peter Duesberg, molecular-biology professor at U.C. Berkeley, on HIV, 1988
9. “The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives.” — Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project
10. “The earth’s crust does not move”- 19th through early 20th century accepted geological science. See Plate Tectonics
译文:
10条著名的失败科学设想
银河系漫游指南里的超级计算机深思预测数字42是宇宙的最终解答和揭开疑问的钥匙。奇怪的是一组澳大利亚的天体物理学家认为银河系的重量为3乘以10的42次方千克-3后面跟42个零。
安东尼瓦兹总结了地球上的科学家10条失败的设想：
1. “到处都可以发现证据-从冰岛周围水域积冰的持久和厚度，到喜爱温暖的动物的南迁，如中西部的犰狳。自20世纪40年代以来地球的平均温度下降了2.7华氏。”-气候学家乔治 J库克拉，哥伦比亚大学，世代杂志1975年 6月24日，文章名为另一个冰河世纪
2. “胃溃疡由压力造成”-公认的医学诊断，直到马歇尔博士通过使自己感染细菌发炎而证明造成胃部发炎的是幽门螺旋菌。
3. “如果我早想到的话，我就不会做这个实验了。历史上都是认为你不会成功的例子。”-斯宾塞西福对3M记事本独特的粘合剂的实验
4. “太空旅行是胡言乱语。”阿诺德斯班塞琼斯爵士，英国皇家天文学家，1957 （2周后斯巴尼克人造卫星环绕地球）
5. “没有任何迹象显示有方法获得核能量。它意味着原子可以被随意破坏。” -艾伯特爱因斯坦，1932
6. “无线电没有未来。比空气重的飞行机器是不可能的。X光将被证明为骗局。”威廉汤姆森，开尔文男爵，英国科学家，1899
7. “我认为计算机的世界市场大概只有5台。”- 托马斯沃森，IBM总裁，1943
8. “病毒没什么了不起。”-D 皮特杜伯格，加州大学伯克利分校的分子生物学教授，对艾滋病的看法，1988
9. “炸弹永远也不会爆炸。我以爆炸物专家的身份保证。”-海军上将威廉莱西，美国原子弹项目
10. “地壳并不运动”-19世纪到20世纪早期普遍承认的地理知识。见板块构造论