Dare to be wrong.

According to numerous sources on the Internet, in 1897, William Thompson aka Lord Kelvin, then President of the Royal Society is quoted as having said:

“I can state flatly that heavier than air flying machines are impossible." 

I can find no credible reference for this quotation. The nearest I can find is a scribbled reply to Baden-Powell (founder of the Boy Scouts movement) declining an invitation written Dec 8th 1896, which reads:

Dear Baden Powell

I am afraid I am not in the flight for “aerial navigation”. I was greatly interested in your work with kites; but I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of. So you will understand that I would not care to be a member of the aëronautical Society.

Yours truly Kelvin

(See original )

Actually I think the original is much more interesting, in particular the lovely play on words in the first sentence (“I am not in the flight…”) gives a much better impression of an intelligent throughtful man, rather than a comic Victorian stereotype. But apart from my obsessive need to get sources right – what point am I trying to make?

Education is supposed to be a process of self-development and improvement. But the way students are sometimes taught discourages mistakes, as though making mistakes was not only a bad thing but somehow a sign of failure. I believe that this is the wrong attitude to take. When I lecture students, one of the first things I say to them is them is that in my classes “There is no such thing as a stupid question”. For those who are unsure about this I reassure them “Now is the time to make mistakes – better to make a mistake now than in the exam, or with your patients.” And that seems to drive the lesson home.

Because whatever Kelvin said, and I’m inclined to believe that a great man like him probably didn’t make the crass statement often attached to his name, at least he was willing to say what he thought and take the chance of being wrong. It takes courage to risk being wrong, but the alternative is to never take a chance, and that is not a recipe for a great educational experience.