# Microscopy by induction - historically, did anyone reason along these lines? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703 "2012-08-07T05:54:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703/21 "2012-08-08T16:07:14Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I can’t find any evidence that the Galileo affair was about whether things that couldn’t be seen except with the telescope didn’t exist: > > [Galileo affair - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair) > > The Galileo affair, as has to be explained every time it comes up here, was more about politics than about science. Reading the Wikipedia article isn’t really conducting an exhaustive research on the subject. I read about the legal case made at Galileo’s trial in an offline book. I tried to find an online reference to it but I couldn’t. Obviously, the reason Galileo was charged was due to political factors and I don’t need that explained to me. But the specific charges were not political. Galileo wasn’t charged with five counts of Weakening Church Authority in Germany in the Second Degree. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703/22 "2012-08-08T16:18:44Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I’ll point out that this kind of reasoning by induction fails utterly going the other way: despite the range of animal sizes, there are no animals so large that humans cannot see them. How do you know that? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703/23 "2012-08-08T19:32:12Z")
Did anybody else think electromagnetic induction when you read the thread title? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703/24 "2012-08-09T03:59:13Z")
Obviously the Wikipedia entry isn’t intended to be a source for deep research. It’s supposed to be a summary for those who don’t know much about the subject. You want a book? O.K., look at the beginning of Part 5, Chapter 1, “Galileo’s Triumph” in _The Sleepwalkers_ by Arthur Koestler. It talks about how Jesuit astronomers confirmed Galileo’s observations by using telescopes themselves. Now let’s hear your citation. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703/25 "2012-08-09T05:35:49Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > Cite that this was a widespread belief, please. It seems to date to at least the Ancient Greeks: [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5624-h/5624-h.htm](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5624-h/5624-h.htm) (Search for the text, “earth was”) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703/26 "2012-08-09T11:32:56Z")
Sage Rat, the book you’re citing consists of two lectures, one delivered in 1913 and the other delivered several years later. In one of those lectures, the speaker illustrates his argument by making up a Socratic dialogue in which the characters are named after the characters given in Plato’s dialogues. This only proves that in 1913 (or so), there was someone who believed that people at one time believed that the Earth was made for man. It doesn’t address at all the specific belief that things that man can’t see don’t therefore exist. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703/27 "2012-08-09T12:01:47Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Sage Rat, the book you’re citing consists of two lectures, one delivered in 1913 and the other delivered several years later. In one of those lectures, the speaker illustrates his argument by making up a Socratic dialogue in which the characters are named after the characters given in Plato’s dialogues. This only proves that in 1913 (or so), there was someone who believed that people at one time believed that the Earth was made for man. It doesn’t address at all the specific belief that things that man can’t see don’t therefore exist. I did not notice that! Woops! Looking again, I see many assertions that Greek, Christian, and Islamic philosophy all endorse the idea that the world was made for mankind, but I don’t see any citations of actual scripture as of yet. I’ll keep looking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopy-by-induction-historically-did-anyone-reason-along-these-lines/630703.md?page=1)