"The ancient astronomers believed in the uniformity of the celestial revolutions, and in the circularity of their orbit. ...performed in perfect freedom and in periods rigorously constant ...From this assumption of uniformity, the circularity of the orbit was a necessary conclusion. The logical chain was perfect. It so completely fettered the mind as almost to bar the way against the admission of the truth. Kepler had difficulty in accepting his own discovery... Thus nothing could be more plausible considered à priori, than the ancient theory; nevertheless, no sooner were adequate means of Verification applied to the theory than the whole fabric tumbled down like a house of cards."
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Aristotle: a Chapter from the History of Science
Aristotle: a Chapter from the History of Science, including Analyses of Aristotle's Scientific Writings was written by George Henry Lewes and published in 1864.
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