Wrong, and Useful Anyway

Not a parade of exploded theories. Why each was plausible, what it left behind, and what finally brought it down — which was usually not a better idea but a better instrument.

Walk this route on the map →

Leg 1 · Phlogiston — A Century Facing the Wrong Way

Leg 2 · The Aether — The Experiment That Found Nothing

Leg 3 · Geocentrism — Fourteen Centuries of Correct Predictions

Leg 4 · Galen — The Book That Said Go and Look

Leg 5 · Lamarck — Wrong for More Complicated Reasons Than You Think

Leg 6 · Wegener — Right, and Refused

Updated 2026-09-12