The most interesting part of this presentation was when we were asked to explain air like we have never been taught anything about it. I honestly had no idea. I would just say it was nothing and it made me realize that we today are very privileged to have a better understanding of life in so many aspects. But this related to another point in the presentation, that science is correctable. This also connected to the Kuhn book as well and it is so true. The realization that only the rich in society had the time and money to research brought me to think that maybe more discoveries could have been made if poor people were able to express their opinions more. What if some question that was unanswered could have been in the back of the mind of a poor peasant but they just did not have the resources to test this? Very thought provoking.
You bring up several interesting discussion points, Jessica. One that is interesting to me is your question about how much human potential is lost due to unfortunate life circumstance? On the other hand, there are many stories of people that rise from next to nothing to do great things. These two contrasting ideas are on display in the story of Priestly, who was poor for much of his life, and Lavoisier, who inherited great wealth.