Ideas Must Die So New Insights Can Take Root

The progression of science relies on the death of ideas

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

My home city, Manchester, is nestled between the moody hills of the Pennines and the flat, fertile plains of Cheshire. Its particular geography means that its skies are often grey, and its buildings, a glorious juxtaposition of ancient and modern, seem to glisten in the damp air.

Manchester waits for no one. Once a provincial northern English outpost, this city has exploded: swelling at a huge rate in response to the Industrial Revolution. But that’s the Manchester way — to defiantly push the boundaries in industry, in music and of course, in science.

My favourite area of Manchester is where its main universities and museums are found. Take a walk down Oxford Road, one of the main arteries found in the south of the city, and you’ll find, amongst the bustling crowds of students, the Manchester Museum. Tucked behind this, down an unassuming side street, lies the red-brick, Victorian era, Rutherford Building.

The Rutherford Building, University of Manchester, Doctorneroli, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The interior of the building marries practicality with an intricate aesthetic. Dark panelled ceilings, embellished cornices and…