Look Who it Was Random video

Hubble Hangout Trailer: Brilliant Blunders

3,486 views · Published 24 May 2013 · 0:42 · Indexed 12 October 2026

Channel: Deep Astronomy · 2013 · Science & Technology

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Please go to the event page and let us know you're coming:
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The history of science is full of success stories: those things scientists did right to advance our knowledge of the universe, but we don't talk about the mistakes very much.

And there have been some doozies!

It seems that even brilliant physicists, astronomers and biologists aren't immune from the occasional blunder, the only difference is that when THEY make them, it has a pretty big impact on how we understand the world around us.

Please join +Tony Darnell and +Alberto Conti as they discuss an amazing new book by Dr. +Mario Livio, "Brilliant Blunders: Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe"

Some topics:


   * Darwin's theory of evolution shouldn't have worked
   * Fred Hoyle thought the Big Bang was nonsense
   * Lord Kelvin got the age of the Earth wrong - by a lot
   * Linus Pauling built the wrong model for DNA
   * Albert Einstein was wrong about what held the universe in equilibrium

Big mistakes? Sure, but without them, our understanding of the universe we live in wouldn't have advanced.  We're looking forward to a lively discussion, so hope to see you there!

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