In article <[email hidden]>,
(David Wright) said:In article <[email hidden]>,
bechamp.org said:Orac said:Pasteur did no such thing. I note that, although you like to make the
claim that Pasteur admitted his work was wrong on his deathbed, you are
very much averse to actually providing convincing evidence that Pasteur
ever said such a thing as he lay dying.
DrC, thanks for your encouragment.
Orac, from what I've read, it's generally accepted that Pasteur said
either "the field is everything" or "the terrain is everything",
depending on the translation. It could, of course, be wrong; it is
impossible to prove one way or the other whether he actually said it
or not. We CAN, however, look for a reasonable degree of
documentation. Feel free to provide what you can to support the idea
that he said no such thing. Equally, I would be interested in seeing
any evidence that supports the idea that he DID say such a thing.
The truth is all we're after, isn't it, gentlemen?
Sounds like you are. I am.
It's possible that Pasteur really *did* say that on his deathbed. But
what if he was delirious? :-)
Possible, given that Pasteur suffered more than one stroke in the weeks
before his death. (He suffered a left-sided hemiparesis from a stroke he
had suffered at age 46 that had made laboratory work increasingly
difficult in his later years.) However, one account I came across had
Pasteur listening to the life of St. Vincent de Paul, and by reports he
kept his faculties until the end. (As an aside, Pasteur was a devout
Catholic, which just goes to show that religious faith does not have to
preclude scientific inquiry.)
Although I see the claim replicated ad nauseum on the Internet that
Pasteur admitted he was "wrong," the only source I have ever seen cited
for this "terrain" quote is an old out of print book written in 1939
(making it difficult to check the quote for context, what, if any,
evidence is presented that Pasteur actually said it, etc.). In addition,
the book is written in French, which most people contributing to this
newsgroup don't read. I read some, but I can't say it would be good
enough to follow anything other than very simple prose.
The book is:
Delhoume, Leon, De Claude Bernard a d'Arsonval. Lib Bailliere et fils,
Paris, 1939.
I have never been able to find another source cited for the alleged
dying words of Pasteur that alties frequently claim. As a general rule
of historical inquiry, for any quote attributed to a historical figure
of such importance, particularly a quote in which this figure in essence
supposedly contradicts his life work, it is a very good idea to require
more than one source before accepting it, unless that one source
presents unusually convincing evidence for the quote.
Quoted message said:Beyond that, however, it really doesn't matter *what* someone says on
their deathbed -- it doesn't automatically make it true. For example,
there's a pernicious lie, popular in creationist circles, that Darwin
repudiated his theory of evolution on his deathbed. (He didn't, as we
know from his daughter, who was there, unlike the liar who made this
absurd claim.)
Quite true. Odd how certain scientists disliked by various ideologues
(Darwin or Pasteur, for instance) are frequently said by those who don't
accept their work to have admitted they were wrong on their deathbed.
[Snip]
--
Orac |"A statement of fact cannot be insolent."
|
|"If you cannot listen to the answers, why do you
| inconvenience me with questions?"
