Every scientific theory, proposed as _possible_, is reconcilable
with some facts. Otherwise, it would not have been considered for a
moment. Many false hypotheses have been proposed, and accepted as
possible and even probable, because reconcilable with some facts. The
Ptolemaic theory of the universe, making the earth the centre, around
which the heavens revolved in great concentric spheres, was accepted
for 1400 years from A. D. 140, because it explained many things. It
corresponded with appearances. It appealed to all. Its advocates had
great difficulty in reconciling it with the motions of the planets,
which were therefore called planets or "wanderers." But in time the
Copernican theory prevailed, because it was reconcilable with all the
facts. The evidence is so abundant that all claim it the true
theory. It is science. It is knowledge.
Because the Copernican hypothesis, the true theory of the universe,
was opposed and rejected, it does not follow that the evolution of man
is true because it is likewise opposed and rejected. If this new
theory, hypothesis, or guess stands, it can only do so, because it
harmonizes with all the facts.
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