Can Science Be Wrong? Famous Scientific Mistakes That Changed the Way We See the World

In Rabbi Zamir Cohen’s “HaMahapach” (The Revolution) book series, many striking parallels are shown between Torah and modern science. Often, what scientists have only recently discovered was already written in Jewish sources hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

Some of these articles also present scientific information unknown to modern science, yet mentioned in ancient Jewish texts — long before technology could confirm them.

Still, there remain areas where science and Torah seem to disagree. Two key examples are:

1. Scientific dating (the age of the universe)

2. The theory of evolution

Before exploring these, we must ask: Can science be wrong? Can something widely accepted, taught in universities, and practiced by scientists for generations — later turn out to be false?

It may sound impossible, yet scientific history tells a different story.
Let’s look at four powerful examples.

1. The “Aether” Theory — A Universe Filled with Invisible Substance

For nearly 200 years, from the early 18th to the late 19th century, scientists believed that light travels as a wave. Countless experiments confirmed this beyond doubt: single-slit diffraction, double-slit interference, and more.

This raised a problem: If light is a wave, what is the medium that carries it? Just as waves in the sea are ripples on water, light waves must also move through some “substance.” “If light is a disturbance,” scientists reasoned, “something must be disturbed.”

As sunlight travels through outer space — and if light requires a medium, then space cannot be empty. Therefore, scientists concluded that the universe must be filled with a subtle, invisible material called the “aether.”

The theory became established scientific fact. Equations describing the aether were written; students were tested on them; professors lectured about its properties. For generations, it was taken as undeniable truth.

That is, until 1887, when physicists Michelson and Morley conducted a historic experiment designed to prove the aether’s existence. It was expected to succeed easily — after all, every scientist already “knew” the aether existed.

But the result was shocking: Nothing. No trace of aether could be detected — day or night, summer or winter, not a single sign. The experiment proved that the entire theory, accepted for nearly two centuries, was completely wrong.

Today, we know the truth, that outer space is empty. The aether does not exist.

2. The “Plum Pudding” Model of the Atom

In 1897, scientists discovered electrons. They learned that atoms contain positive and negative charges, but had no clear model of how these particles were arranged.

So came the “plum pudding model”, which dominated science until 1909. It proposed that positive and negative charges were evenly mixed throughout the atom — like raisins in dough.

Then came Ernest Rutherford’s experiment in 1909. He fired particles at atoms, expecting only slight deflections. Instead, some particles bounced straight back — an impossible result under the accepted model.

This led to the discovery that the atom has a dense central nucleus — with electrons orbiting around it. Modern atomic theory was born.

Rutherford himself described the shock: “It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back to hit you.”

Once again, what was once “settled science” was suddenly overturned.

3. The “Scientific” Theory of Race

From the 18th to early 20th centuries, the idea of racial hierarchy was considered serious, academic science. Researchers cataloged “races,” comparing their physical and mental traits, ranking them as superior or inferior.

This so-called science reached its horrific climax under Nazi ideology, which claimed to apply biological “laws” in the attempted extermination of “inferior races,” including the Jewish people.

At the time, these theories were discussed in universities and published in scientific journals. Today, they are rightly recognized as pseudoscience — a moral and intellectual disgrace.

Once again, humanity learned: “scientific consensus” can be terribly wrong.

4. When Smoking Was “Good for Your Health”

Few people realize that for decades, smoking was considered beneficial. Even into the 1980s, some doctors — including in Israel, prescribed cigarettes to patients for digestive problems and stress.

Smoking indoors was completely normal: universities, lecture halls, offices were filled with smoke while professors taught and students listened. Unthinkable today, but once accepted by science and medicine.

We now know beyond all doubt that smoking is deadly, not healthy.
The “medical wisdom” of the time was tragically mistaken.

The Lesson: Science Can Err — Even Spectacularly

Each of these cases reminds us that science is not infallible.
Throughout history, theories once considered proven, logical, and universally accepted have later been discarded.

When we find apparent contradictions between Torah and science, we must remember that science evolves, and the Torah endures.

Adapted from the book “Interwoven Worlds (עולמות משתלבים)” by a Technion graduate with a B.Sc. in Physics (with honors).