Abstract
CANON McCLURE'S misconception is so fundamental that I ask leave to correct it. If he had done me the honour to read other of my writings, he would scarcely have suspected me of a desire to banish imagination from science. It is just because I maintain that the imaginative element gives to science its highest value that I think it important to distinguish carefully between what is fact and what is imagination. I do not “rule out, as scientifically invalid, Prof. Eddington's being travelling with the velocity of light”; but I say that the perceptions of that being are not facts, ascertainable by experiment; and I protest against any exposition of relativity, or of any other scientific doctrine, which confuses laws, based mainly on facts, with theories, based mainly upon imagination.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
CAMPBELL, N. [Letters to Editor]. Nature 108, 569 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/108569b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/108569b0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.