The history of astronomy has hinged on radical ideas that transformed our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it. The most obvious of these may be the discovery in the 16th century that the Earth and other planets orbit the sun. An unpopular idea when it was first proposed, today it is so fundamental to basic astronomy it is practically taken for granted. But our most brilliant scientists have also floated some wild ideas that were not only unpopular at the time—they also turned out to be incredibly wrong. Some of these wrong ideas led to other important discoveries, however, that were very right. Here are a few of astronomy’s fallen angels.
More: Nine Rebel Astronomy Theories That Went Dark – Nautilus
Tom Metcalfe 