"Since the earliest days of science, dissent and disagreement have driven its progress. Galileo's defiance of the geocentric consensus was invaluable for science's advance. Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr's disagreements over the interpretation of quantum mechanics generated many fruitful insights. Yet not all disagreement is scientifically valuable. Science denialism - the rejection of well-established claims - is currently on the rise. A vaccine sceptic heads the United States Department of Health and Human Services."
"In 1863, William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin, claimed that Earth's age was only around 100 million years. The estimate was rooted in the second law of thermodynamics, and Kelvin - known for his discovery of absolute zero - was a titan in all things thermodynamical. But this estimate posed a significant challenge to a new theory that had recently entered the scene."
Dissent has historically driven advances, with examples like Galileo and the Einstein–Bohr debates producing major insights. Not all disagreement is productive: science denialism rejects well-established claims and is increasing. Contemporary examples include a vaccine sceptic leading the US Department of Health and Human Services, climate-change deniers in prominent government science roles, and politically motivated defunding of research on infectious diseases, cancer and climate. Historical conflicts, such as Kelvin's underestimated age of Earth clashing with natural selection's time requirements, show that genuine scientific challenge can reveal knowledge gaps but requires evidence and mechanisms for resolution.
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