ezyang’s blog

the arc of software bends towards understanding

How Aristotle got it Wrong
On the importance of conceptual frameworks

One of the persistent myths about Aristotelean physics—the physics that was proposed by the Ancient Greeks and held up until Newton and Galileo came along—is that Aristotle thought that “heavier objects fall more quickly than light objects”, the canonical example being that of a cannon ball and feather. Although some fraction of contemporary human society […]

  • May 6, 2011