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Shen Kuo
1031–1095
Chinese scholar-official and polymath of the Song dynasty.
What they got right
He reasoned carefully from what he saw: finding petrified bamboo where none could grow, he inferred that the climate there must once have been different.
Skill it shows
Applying a principle
Practise this skillAlso: Evidence and sources
Now bamboos do not grow in Yenchow. These were several dozens of feet below the present surface of the ground, and we do not know in what dynasty they could possibly have grown. Perhaps in very ancient times the climate was different so that the place was low, damp, gloomy, and suitable for bamboos.
Worth knowing
His work mixes sharp observation with the traditional cosmology of his time, and less of it is available in English.
Try it yourself
Notice something out of place near you (a shell far from the sea, an old sign). What is the simplest explanation of how it got there, and what would test it?