“Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.”

– Simon Newcomb

Is there something in your life that seems impossible?  Have you looked at it from every angle you can think of, but a solution still escapes your grasp?

Can you think of other times when you have felt stymied by a problem and simply stopped trying to solve it, only to discover later that you were able to find the answer?

Simon Newcomb was a respected astronomer and Mathematician.  In spite of the fact that he had little formal education, he proved himself to be a creative thinker who worked on calculating the speed of light.  He also was versed in Economics and authored a Science Fiction novel.  It seems that there was no limit to Newcomb’s ability to think outside the box, except that the box did enclose him when it came to the idea of inventing a flying machine.  In this area, Newcomb found his impossible problem; and he voiced his opinion that even if such a thing could be invented it would be of little or no practical use.  Later discoveries and further thought about Newcomb’s impossible problem did, of course, lead to the flight of heavier-than-air ships that have served us for several generations.

The longer I live, the more I see examples that indicate that there are few problems beyond solving.  Is anything really impossible, or do we judge it that way because we still have some learning to do?  Let’s not be discouraged by the frustration we feel at the limited knowledge we bring to a problem.  Let’s always allow for the idea that one day we may discover something that will move all the boundaries we use to define impossibility.

In 1888, Simon Newcomb was quoted as saying:

“We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about astronomy.”

My stars and planets!  I am thankful that his successors didn’t take him too seriously.