It is curious that there are so many people in the world who are afraid to make a mistake and it is curious because, in fact, the history of humanity is the story of a cluster of successive mistakes, the great experts are no exception, neither the geniuses nor the fieriest, who have also made very erroneous statements throughout history.
We have brought thirty examples: predictions and statements that at the time seemed blunt and that throughout history have turned out to be great?Misleading. Here they are:
“Flying machines heavier than air are impossible. “Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, 1895.
“A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. ” The New York Times, 1936.
“Everything that could have been invented has already been invented. “Charles Duell, Commissioner of the United States Patent Department, 1899.
“The horse is here to stay, and the carriage is just a novelty, a passing fad. “Statement by michigan President Savings Bank suggesting Henry Ford’s attorney not invest in Ford Motor.
“The television won’t last. Mary Somerville, pioneer of educational radio in the United States, 1948.
“Television will not last because soon people will get tired of seeing a plywood box every night. Darryl Zanuck, producer of 20th Century Fox, 1946.
The wireless music box has no commercial value imaginable Who would pay to listen to a message sent to someone in particular?Associates of David Sarnoff, in response to his proposal to invest in radio, 1921.
“High-speed train travel is not possible because passengers can’t breathe, they’ll die of suffocation. “Dr Dionysys Larder, Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at the University of London, 1793-1859.
“I find it very difficult to accept the theory of relativity, such as the existence of atoms and other dogmas like this. “Ernst Mach, Professor of Physics at the University of Vienna
“The energy produced by the disintegration of an atom is very insignificant. Anyone who hopes to get a source of energy from the fisss of these atoms says nonsense. Ernest Rutherford, discoverer of the nucleus of the atom and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
“Heaven and earth were created together at the same time, on October 23, 4004 BC, at nine o’clock in the morning. John Lightfoot, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, shortly before the publication of “The Origin of Species”.
“Moving animals have limbs and muscles. Earth has no limbs or muscles, so it doesn’t move. Scipione Chiaramonti, priest of Pope Pius VII.
? We don’t like your music. And the guitar music is disappearing. ?? Decca Recording Company, when they refused to sign a contract with the Beatles in 1962.
This phone? It has too many drawbacks to be seriously considered a means of communication, has no value this machine for us ?. Western Union Internal Report, 1876.
“Reagan doesn’t look presidential. ” Executive of United Artists, after rejecting Reagan as the protagonist of the 1964 film The Best Man.
“I think there’s a global market for maybe five computers. “Thomas Watson, President of IBM, 1943.
“X-rays turned out to be a scam. ” Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883.
“When everyone knows the subject, they will recognize it as an obvious failure. “Henry Morton, president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, on the Thomas Edison Lamp, 1880.
“No one is going to pay a lot of money to go from Berlin to Potsdam in an hour, so they can spend a day riding for free. “King William I of Prussia, by train, 1864.
“There’s no reason for a person to have a computer at home. “Ken Olson, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), at a conference at the World Future Society, Boston, 1977.
“While excessive tobacco use really plays a role in lung cancer production, it seems to be very low. “WC Heuper, National Cancer Institute, 1954.
“No, he’ll make war impossible. ” Hiram Maxim, inventor of the machine gun, in response to the question “Won’t this weapon make the most terrible war?”By Havelock Ellis, an English scientist, 1893.
“A bigger plane will never be built. ” A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin-engine aircraft capable of carrying ten people.
“How, sir, could a ship sail against the wind and currents lighting a fire under its hull?I’m sorry, don’t I have time to hear this? Napoleon Bonaparte, when he was told about Robert Fulton’s steam, 1800. .
“The idea of cavalry being replaced by these iron machines is absurd. Is it anything less than a betrayal?” said an assistant to Marshal Haig during a tank demonstration in 1916.
Do I have to admit that my imagination refuses that any kind of submarine does anything more than suffocate its crew and its strength at sea?HG Wells, British writer, 1901.
“The potential global market for photocopiers is a maximum of 5,000. “IBM, to the founders of Xerox, claims that the photocopier did not have a market large enough to justify its production, 1959.
“Americans need the phone, but we don’t. We have messengers in abundance. ?. Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878.
“It will disappear in June. Variety Magazine at Rock n? Roll, 1955
“When the Paris Exhibition [1878] closes, the electric light will wipe it out and no one else will know about the electric light. Erasmus Wilson, Oxford professor.
Images courtesy of Alice