Abstract
In the sciences, the excitement of discovery is a beginning, not an end in itself. It must be followed by a period of growing distinctions, a period of observation and classification, before new concepts can be established and new questions formulated. As I walk through a museum, I’m astounded by the amount of effort people have devoted to this seemingly secondary task of collecting and classifying. Yet where would science be without it? Fossils, known since antiquity, were not immediately recognized as extinct species—people thought of them as one-of-a-kind monsters, or discarded experiments of the Creator. Only when naturalists had learned to identify and classify a wide range of life forms both living and extinct, could Darwin promulgate an acceptable theory to explain the place of fossils in the history of life.
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
—Dylan Thomas
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Laurence A. Marschall
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Marschall, L.A. (1988). Why Stars Explode. In: The Supernova Story. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6301-7_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6301-7_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-42955-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-6301-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive