“Every science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles; he can only discover them.”
Ah yes, Mr. Paine, but what of Pluto? To the laymen the past few weeks may have been confusing: from nine planets to twelve and then down to eight; with Pluto - dark and cold in the far reaches of the solar system - demoted to the status of “dwarf planet”.
Of course, Pluto has not changed, it is the same bit of icey rock held within the tenous bonds of the Sun’s gravity it always was. Science, in fact, is a work in progress. As is the universe in which science is engaged in an attempt to understand. Whether we consider Pluto a planet or merely a dwarf planet is a matter of classification and subject to change. The principals of science, just like lonely Pluto, remain unchanged.
Our understanding of the universe, and all contained within it, evolves; the underlying principals, quietly awaiting discovery, do not.
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