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I.
There are certain errors that demand a greater outlay of intellect than the truth itself. Tycho’s* renown is based entirely, and rightfully so, on an error, and if Kepler† had not explained the cosmic system he would have become famous solely on account of his delusion and on account of the keenly reasoned arguments on which he based that delusion, namely that the moon does not turn on its axis.
2.
One could divide humanity into two classes: 1) those who master a metaphor, and 2) those who hold by a formula. Those with a bent for both are far too few, they do not comprise a class.
* Tycho Brahe, alchemist and astronomer (1546–1601)
† Johannes Kepler, astronomer (1571–1630)