A Space Odyssey is less than 35 years old, but it looks both dated and over-optimistic at the same time, for example. His concept of atomic numbers came from experiments in the scattering of alpha particles from metal foils, as most textbooks will tell you. What they won't show you , though, is how the alpha particles were made, how they were detected or the cobbled-together machinery that allowed the crucial measurements to be made. Like Gernsback's future city, we imagine some Platonic ideal of an experiment, rather than the messy reality of a scruffy Manchester laboratory under flickering gaslight. It's as bad to idealise the past as it is to idolise the future, since both were and will be produced by fallible people using the tools they have available to do things they're not sure will work.
Orderly progress is a concept that was finally thrown out of the theories of species evolution.
Then remember Moseley and his important work, done with equipment and scientific knowledge that would barely be adequate in a GCSE course today. And, if you have an extra spare moment, remember my great-uncle Tom as well. To have your say online click on the TalkBack button and go to the ZDNet forums.