There are three stages in scientific discovery. First, people deny that it is true, then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.

About This Quote

Johannes Diderik van der Waals, a Dutch scientist, came up with the idea of van der Waals forces. Van der Waals was born in 1837 and worked as a professor at the University of Leiden from 1873 until his death in 1923. In this quote, he is referring to the fact that people often deny a new discovery even after they have been proven to be true. In his day, it was thought that there were no such things as magnets or electricity.

His fellow scientists called his theories “scientific nonsense” and many refused to believe him. Finally, they accepted a new discovery once a man named James Clerk Maxwell came forward and explained why what van der Waals was saying was true.

Source: A Short History Of Nearly Everything

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