In a previous list (top 30 failed technology predictions) we gave a series of quotes which all turned out to be patently false. Science changes every year (not just in the realm of technology) and so it is a great source for very embarrassing quotes which later turn out to be very short sighted. In this list, we look at 15 quotes from scientists around the world who would now rather they hadn’t spoken.
1. While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming. – Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer, 1926.
2. Radio has no future. – Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist.
3. Well informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires, and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value. – Editorial in the Boston Post, 1865
4. ‘The abdomen, the chest and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.’ – Sir John Eric Ericson, Surgeon to Queen Victoria, 1873
5. “That virus is a pussycat.” — Dr. Peter Duesberg, molecular-biology professor at U.C. Berkeley, on HIV, 1988
6. Your cigarettes will never become popular. – F. G. Alton, 1870, cigar maker, turning down Mr. John Player
7. I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of anyone. – Darwin (writing in Origin of Species), 1859
8. X-rays are a hoax. – Lord Kelvin (again!), ca. 1900
9. The so-called theories of Einstein are merely the ravings of a mind polluted with liberal, democratic nonsense which is utterly unacceptable to German men of science. – Dr. Walter Gross, 1940
10. “With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.” — Business Week, August 2, 1968.
11. “Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” — Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.
12. “Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.” — Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.
13. “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.” — Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.
14. “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” — Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899
15. “Within the next few decades, autos will have folding wings that can be spread when on a straight stretch of road so that the machine can take to the air.” — Eddie Rickenbacker, ‘Popular Science,’ July 1924
The fact that these predictions were very far from the truth isn't as shocking to me as the arrogance of a statement like "Everything that can be invented has been invented."
While it would be easy for someone today to make a wildly inaccurate prediction, I can't see any reasonable being thinking that no new or amazing inventions will ever happen in the future.
Number 9, if you take out "German" and replace with "American", sounds like something you would hear on Fox News.
#3 isn't completely inaccurate; it is impractical to use wires to communicate.
That's why now we use wireless instead
lol
About number 15: Such automobiles exist…however they are not massively produced!!!!!
I believe there will be more of these automobiles in the next few years… but I don't see them flying on our streets anytime soon… (too fly it requires a flight plan and a pilot's license…)
I think that we aren't any brighter today and think that we've pretty much figured everything out except the details. 100 years from now they'll be laughing at us.
And we'll all be laughing on Dec. 22, 2012 when the world is still humming along nicely, and all the "end of timers" are embarrassedly hemming and hawing their explanation of why the end didn't come after all (again)!
Howsy boutsy a list of sci-fi writers who got it right before it became "de rigueur"?
I think science is a boring snot bubble when it comes to predictions.
It would've been better to just say "Here's 15 scientist's bowl movements" (with pictures).
My guess is this was lifted from another source of quotes. No biggie. Quotes are quotes. But there is hardly any substance here.
We get it! You're hittin' the bottle again and have lost your lack of judgment call— given the approaching birth celebration of Jesus and all. I know, I know, it's a lot to take in.
I'm not sure if anyone has already noted this, but #14 is supposedly apocryphal, which doesn't really make it an embarrassing prediction at all. Here's a (hopefully reliable source): http://www.myoutbox.net/posass.htm
*****in'
To put things in perspective, I was making a similar list of Extremely Embarrassing Religious Predictions, but it got way too long.
Just pick up a Bible and a copy of 88 reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988 (and '89, '90, '91, '92, '93, etc…)
Jesus said "No-one knows …". If that doesn't deter the predicters, nothing will.
Jesus also told his disciples (in three of the gospels, at least) that he'd return with his kingdom before "some of you standing here taste death".
So… he's not exactly a reliable source, either.
Great list, except for #7, since he included the word "good". He wasn't saying he didn't expect the idiotic reasons they use to be shocked at it.
very informative list! amusing!
#14 = urban legend. He never actually said that.
"Within the next few decades, autos will have folding wings that can be spread when on a straight stretch of road so that the machine can take to the air.” — Eddie Rickenbacker, ‘Popular Science,’ July 1924"
He never said that. Check out http://www.myoutbox.net/posass.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Duell
Get your facts right before publishing.
Also the title is misleading. They weren't predictions. They weren't all made by scientists. And they aren't all true.
Oops I meant #14.
Another embarrassing prediction in March 2000:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/snowfall…
hey, heckovagreat diversion from my Christmas list, which also failed to materialize…
Is anyone else getting a weird glitch where some words are being replaced by rows of asterisks? I'm seeing words like "***ential" as "***ential" and "so****ing" as "so****ing". The connecting thread is ****s. On yesterday's ****s list, some of the names of ****s show like that, as well as the word "****s" itself. Interestingly, although the glitch changes "so****ing" to "so****ing", it doesn't object to the word "****" itself. It also doesn't block any information about the **** itself.
At first I thought it was the filter on the computers at work, which is set to overenthusiastic levels, but it is also happening at home.
EDIT: It is showing all those words as asterisks here, now
i can see your asterisks, but olny on your comment. nobody else's.
#7 is true, he didn't make the theory and he admitted he didn't believe in it.And this is a great list.
Something
You might want to do something about that Listverse. "S-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g" should not be censored.
I'd just like to point out that #15 has already been invented (yes, a machine that can lift off to fly like an airplane and land to drive like a car, and its only issue is that it requires space/landing strip to lift off and land, similar to an airplane), and I'm sure given actual research and funding could become practical.
Number 14 i really embarrassing.
to bad the quote of francis fukuyama isn't in here. stating that history has ended and from now we will only know liberal democracies.
That's not really science, and also, the end of history is hardly an embarrassing theory. Liberal democracy is quite probably the end of the line for the evolution of governments. The old dominant forms are either dying or dead, and it's not like he's been proven wrong yet. Probably should leave that another 50 years or so before writing it off as embarrassing.
Number 15 is wrong, if you're a fan of Top Gear you'd know there are cars that can be transformed into flying machines, and they are developing these.
They are not popular now, but they may become more popular in the future, though I hope they don't. I'd rather the world didn't turn into corny sci fi movie.
"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of anyone. – Darwin (writing in Origin of Species), 1859"
How is that embarassing? Darwin didn't believe that evolution and religeon were at odds, and the pope came out this year in favour of evolution. (not that the pope is right about anything much)
Awesome. All these predictions proves that almost anything is possible.
Number 7 is not a prediction or a mistake. Darwin was expressing an opinion, and I agree completely. It's not his fault that so many theists refuse to incorporate scientific fact into the structure of their belief systems.
"In ten years, there will be a nuclear powered vacuum cleaner in every home"
Unknown vacuum cleaner manufacturer 1950
uhh number 15 exists so yeah….
http://www.worldculturepictorial.com/blog/content…
I lol'd.
Really cool site. I would like to upload my own lists soon…
I wouldn't put that last one on the list. I mean, it still may happen… XD
I find the title of the list an embarrassment to science. It should read “15 embarrassing predictions about science or technology” the reason being, none of these statements are backed by the science community even if there is in fact a physicist who proclaims it.
11. “Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” — Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.
No my dear peasants, oil falls from the sky! just like bacons!
……..and yeah, i hope lord kelvin didnt die of embarrasement ;p
Darwin got it right … why is it an embarrassing mess-up?
Seems like people that people who said these things are full of themselves.
And how am I to know if these quotes are taken out of context?
i think it is right in – everything that can be invented has been invented-
nowadays, the invented things you consider are just somewhat the "updated versions" of past things.
You could add Al Gore’s comments of global warming and all the crap we heard about what the oil in the gulf was going to do to America.
Something similar to number 15 is currently being developed for military use. the Discovery News article is very interesting.
#5 is actually true. When compared with thousands of other known viruses, HIV is one of the slowest progressing viral infections (due to its latency period). The virus can remain dormant for decades before reemerging. The common cold causes illness within five days after infecting your body, for comparison.
So actually, this is neither wrong nor embarrassing.
Realy amazing info….
You have to realize that at the time if these quotes, the subject of the quote just wasn’t thought to be relevant or believable. If you go back to the 1700s and tell people that they will fly in the future, they would think you are crazy and throw you in jail or a mental institution. Now most of these ideas have been with us all our lives they seem so natural to us.
14. “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” — Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899
“This quotation is not really the words of Mr. Duell. There is a long-standing urban legend about a patent director making such a statement, and this particular version may have originated in “The Book of Facts and Fallacies” by Chris Morgan and David Langford (1981). There is no evidence that anyone in the patent office really said anything of the sort. [note by Michael Moncur, October 18, 2005]“
Which is not at all the shallow apparent meaning.. It is as such:
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
I really wish there would be just a bit more accuracy in these top lists, regardless of how great they are to read.
poop
Just dropped in to say that a statement is NOT necessarily scientific just because it comes from some guy who has a piece of paper that says he’s a “scientist.” A statement is scientific if it uses the existing state of knowledge (facts, not opinions) to extrapolate from the known to the unknown. The cigar–maker may have been wrong, but he was deeply involved because he was risking huge profits on his decision. He was using his knowledge of the market to make a decision that would affect his own life.
Most of these people were risking nothing. Their pronouncements had no repercussions during their lifetimes and they knew they wouldn’t.
I’ve not given up on no. 15 yet
All these quotes prove one thing: people should stop making predictions!!! In my opinion many of these embarassments are due to the fact that most businessmen know little about science and most scientist dont know enough about engineering in order to tell if something is possible or not. When it comes to statements about future technologies I would be inclined to believe someone that says everything is possible than those who are coming with countless arguments that something is not feasible.
# 15 was technically true, it was called the aerocar which was first built in 1949. admittedly its wings and tail had to be towed along behind it but it could still fly, which is the reason it was not around very long. It was not stable or safe enough on the ground to go on the highways.
14. “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
is by far the worst comment up there.
I think no. 15 is already happening.
You pathetic fools. Darwin is correct in what he said. For someone to be truly religious means that no matter what their faith cannot be shaken and therefore the ramblings of a man speaking of evolution would mean nothing to him. People who get offended by the thought of evolution being how we got to where we are today are people who do not truly believe their religion but yet only aspire too and wish it too be true. Darwin was smarter than all you people combined.