The Story of the Bee

I don't remember the exact year, it would have been 1974 or 5. Probably. I do remember that I was driving to the market, listening to the news.

The announcer said that it was now official, the bumble bee could fly. Aerodynamic Engineers had made the announcement. Apparently, up until that point, it had been aerodynamically impossible for the bumble bee to fly.

As a Philosophy student, the word "impossible" meant something very specific and very important to me. It is a very, very powerful word. Every bit as powerful as "know."

I also remember my immediate reaction. I slapped the dashboard and said "Sure glad no one told the bumble bee."

For how many years did western civilization "know" that the earth was flat?-Or that the sun was the center of the universe?-Or that parallel lines could not possibly meet?

I had been taught that if it is true that you "know" something, it follows that that thing is fact. I had been taught that if something is impossible, it cannot, under any circumstances be fact. Of course, that means that no scientist should ever have said that the bee cannot fly, though obviously they did. They should have said "It is clear that the bee can fly but we do not know why. Obviously, our theory of flight is inadequate. In fact, it is incorrect."

Yes, that is what they should have said, but did not. Sir Arthur Eddington, I recollect, stated that an entire generation of physicists had to die before Einstein could be accepted.

So much for good epistomology in science.

There is a very important point here. Unless someone who genuinely does know tells you it cannot be done, you can do it. The only issue is whether you are clever and motivated enough.

And that is the story of the bee.