WHen William Harvey took to dissecting circulation systems and lectured to the London Academy that the system was pump, valve and tube in nature, he was flying in the face of accepted wisdom --decreed many centuries before by the Greek Galen -- that circulation occurred in tides which were flavored by humors. Harvey caused a huge controversy and one old stalwart of the academy (possibly Theodore Baronius) is reported to have exclaimed "I would rather err with Galen than be right with Harvey!".

I don't know if this story is apocryphal or true, but it loudly illustrates the point about new paradigms looming up in the face of entrenched ones. Truth is much harder to swallow when it requires you to give up what you already believe.


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