They Laughed at Galileo

By: Albert Jack

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Synopsis: They Laughed at Galileo takes a humorous and reflective look at one thousand years of the development of humankind. Those who dreamt, those who taught, those who opposed, and those who, ultimately, did. At some point in modern history each and every one of our inventions and discoveries was thought up in the first place and then developed by a single person, or a handful of people, who dreamt of the seemingly impossible. For them the future was clear and obvious, but for the vast majority, including the acknowledged experts of their day, such belief was sheer folly. For just about everything that has improved our modern lifestyles in a way that our ancestors could not possibly imagine, there was once a dreamer opposed by a team of experts publicly declaring that "It cannot be done." Well, yes it could. The radio, crude oil, show business, high-powered trains and high-flying airplanes, computers, medicine, and nuclear energy-each of these inventions have had a profound effect on the course of human history, and each one was rejected, resisted, and ridiculed by the leading "experts" of the time. Ultimately the inventors and innovators who brought these into existence provided invaluable contributions to science and the culture of humankind.