Throughout history, many mistakes have been made in the name of Science, sometimes due to the scarcity of available means and, other times, due to simple stubbornness or hobbies of scientists. These are some of those errors or manias…
Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm Bischoff (1807 – 1882) was a German biologist and anatomist. University professor of Anatomy and Physiology. One of his “ most important studies ” was about the human brain. He determined that the average brain weight of men was 1,350 gr . and that of women 1,250 g . Since I was a follower of the “size does matter theory “, The final conclusion of it:
the intellectual capacity of men was greater than that of women.
In 1868 he was appointed foreign member of the Royal Society (it is the oldest scientific society in the United Kingdom and one of the most prestigious in Europe). When he died he donated his body to Science – gross error – and it was found out that his brain weighed 1,245 gr .
Henry Cavendish British physicist and chemist (1731-1810) is especially known for his research on the chemistry of water and air and for conducting important research on electric current. Of great fortune, without a wife or children, eccentric, shy and introverted, he had no close contact with almost anyone. The maids in his house had express orders not to cross paths with him under threat of dismissal, so he communicated with them through notes. But his mania for not dealing with anyone reached such an extreme that, not having the necessary apparatus and utensils to measure electrical power, for not entrusting it to others , decided to measure that electrical power with himself, calculating its strength by the pain, more or less strong, that the discharges produced.
Isaac Newton Recognized as one of the greatest scientists of all time, he has an anecdote that seems to confirm the maxim “all geniuses are clueless ”. While working on his investigations he did not like to be disturbed but he had a cat that continually meowed to get in and out of the house. So, he made a hole in the bottom of the door - cat flap - so that the feline would not bother him. As the cat had the habit of walking around the neighborhood and flirting with the neighbors, felines of course, she went through what she had to go through... several kittens were born.
Newton made other smaller holes in the door for the kittens.
The Dutch researcher Martinus Willem Beijerinckh (1851-1931) stated that “a man of science must remain single “. Thus, he even fired a collaborator from his laboratory... who had gotten married!
Gaspar Balaus doctor and poet of the 17th century had a hobby that, in the end, would end up costing him his life:he was convinced that he was made of butter . This belief led him to avoid any source of heat (a fireplace, a lamp, etc.) so as not to melt. One very hot day, with a merciless sun, he feared melting and threw himself headfirst into a well, where he drowned.
The great Leonardo da Vinci , painter, scientist, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor, architect, urban planner, botanist, musician, poet, philosopher… (the Windows of the Renaissance) was a pioneer in many of the disciplines to which he devoted himself. One of the disciplines in which Leonardo worked was human anatomy. The anatomical studies of him collected in the “ Anatomical Manuscript ” (1510-1511) focus on attempts to understand the workings of the human body. In addition, he used his pictorial arts to make detailed drawings of the human body. As I said before, due to the limitations of the time he made some "small" mistake:
The penis was connected to the lungs, which were the ones that gave them the "breath" necessary for an erection.
Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard (1817 – 1894) was a Mauritian physiologist and neurologist known for being the first to describe the so-called Brown-Sequard syndrome, although he is also the author of the elixir of life (which I have allowed myself to call “testiculina “). On June 1, 1889, aged 72, before the Société de Biologie in Paris, he reported that he had increased his physical strength, mental agility, and appetite by self-injecting an extract derived from the testicles of dogs and Guinea pigs. In addition, he relieved his constipation and lengthened the arc of his urine (a true show of vigor). The potion that was injected was composed of a small amount of water in which was diluted a mixture of the blood from the testicular veins, the sperm and, finally, the juice extracted from a testicle, crushed immediately after it had been removed. br />of a dog. The conclusions of the study of him are irrefutable:
- The average length of the urine stream during the ten days prior to the first injection was less than that for the following twenty days.
- After the first few days of my experiments I have had a great improvement in passing stool.
Compilation of several published posts.