10 Things that Everyone Believed but Science Proved otherwise

Science has the history of toppling many facts and challenging beliefs of different religions. We have a long list of debunked facts which were proven wrong after years and years of existence. Similarly, a lot of religious faiths were put into question following certain developments in the field of Science. This has been an important part of human life and the tussle between Science and Religion carries on and on. Some of such Examples are:

Flat Earth

It was a common belief among humans that Earth is flat. People believed it despite the indication of ancient Greeks that it is Spherical in Nature. Aristotle used physical evidence to support this claim but this idea was considered wrong by large masses of people. Due to the latest technology, we observed Earth from all sides and angles and deduced that it is not flat.

Key Events in Old Testament

There are many key events that are mentioned and explained in the Old Testament. People believed that these incidents are true for thousands of years before Archaeology came and discovered that all events like Conquests of Joshua and Exodus never happened.

Rain Follows the Plow

According to this theory, the presence of human settlement increased the amount of rainfall in an area. Famous Settlement of the Great Plains came into existence following this belief of people. This fact was debunked after climatologists studied this case by making use of latest techniques. The drought of South Australia proved to be the last nail in the coffin.

The Four Humors

The human body is made up of four components: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. This belief existed since antiquity till modern times. The use of herbs to treat sickness was a part of this theory. Treatments like bloodletting, purges, and emetics are all due to this belief. This concept was replaced by Cellular Pathology in 1858 when Rudolf Virchow published his research.

Movement of Solar System

The interpretation of Bible that was famous for years was that Earth is the Center of the universe and all other bodies including Sun are revolving around it. Galileo proposed a heliocentric system in which Sun was in the center and all other planets were circling around it while Moon was revolving around Earth. His theory eradicated the long-lasting belief of Roman Catholic Church.

Alchemy

It was a technique discovered in ancient Egypt as they found formulas for creating mortars, glass, and cosmetics. It spread to other parts of the world and attempts were made to convert metals into gold. This was done to conjure up genies and perform other bizarre activities. Alchemy met its death when science overtook it through hard tests.

Lunar Eclipses

This is regarded as the earliest conflict between religion and science. The priests in ancient Babylon (Iraq) taught that lunar eclipses were caused due to the restlessness of gods and this could be dangerous for the king of the time. Local Astronomers used scientific methods and reasoning to explain that they occur once every 18 years. This belief did stay famous among locals despite this discovery as the omen was always fulfilled.

Island of California

Experts of Geography of the 16th century were pretty sure that California is separate from North American land. This belief was common around the globe until the last quarter of 18th century. Juan Bautista discovered that it is not true in his expeditions from 1774-1776. A point of interest here is that California is expected to become a separate entity in 25 million years due to tectonic plate movement.

Creation of Humans

The creation of humans is one of those topics where religion and science cannot meet. The religious belief was very popular before the Darwinian Evolution. He provided a scientific explanation that how humans came into existence as a species. Having said that, there is still a large majority of Christians and Muslims who don’t agree with this theory.

Maternal Impression

According to this theory, thoughts of a mother during pregnancy had corresponding effects on the child in her womb. This belief was used to explain different birth defects and congenital disorders. Depression was also associated with this concept. In the 20th century, the advent of Genetic Theory ended this wrong belief and things changed completely.

All the examples stated above shows that Science has corrected us many times. It can be concluded that scientific theories can also be wrong at times and hence their replacement is quite possible.