The Phantom Nature of Scientific Entities
As early as 1667 and throughout the 1700s, a great deal of time was spent studying an essential substance of nature that was called “phlogiston.” It had been observed that when things burned they became lighter in weight, while at the same time they gave off heat and light. The decrease in weight made it seem clear that burning substances lose something of their mass as they give off heat. This released thing that gave off heat was named phlogiston. Another known observation was that if one burned a candle in a closed container, the flame would burn for awhile and then stop. Because the flame stopped with much of the candle left intact, it seemed that depletion of phlogiston was not a likely explanation for why the flame went out. Rather, it was hypothesized that the quality of the air had changed in ...
