How Scepticism Blocks Progress: Cuvier and Spallanzani
by Guy Lyon Playfair
by Guy Lyon Playfair
"In 1794 the eminent Italian physiologist Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-99), one of the founders of experimental biology, published a modest but heretical proposal. Long intrigued by the ability of bats to fly in total darkness without bumping into things, he set out to discover how they did it."
Although Spallanzani's research determined bats navigated through the sense of hearing, his discovery was not accepted, and did not surface again until the 20th century.
