As Steven Weinberg points out, it’s a good thing for people to understand that even the greatest scientists make mistakes. However, I think Weinberg grossly understates the issue. Maybe his article should have been titled “Einstein’s Published Mistakes.”
The practice of science, as Physics Today readers surely know, involves making mistakes, realizations, corrections, and more mistakes. Trial and error is a fundamental part of the process. I think that point deserves emphasizing. Too many of our schoolchildren learn to avoid invention and new thinking because they have been convinced that making mistakes is shameful.
© 2006 American Institute of Physics.
2006
American Institute of Physics
