Galileo was confident that the most important part of his contributions
to the knowledge of the solar system was his Theory of the Tides--a
theory which all succeeding astronomers have rejected as utterly
baseless and untenable. Descartes probably placed far above his
beautiful explanation of the rainbow, his _à priori_ theory of the
existence of the vortices which caused the motion of the planets and
satellites. Newton perhaps considered as one of the best parts of his
optical researches his explanation of the natural colour of bodies,
which succeeding optical philosophers have had to reject; and he
certainly held very strongly the necessity of a material cause for
gravity, which his disciples have disregarded. Davy looked for his
greatest triumph in the application of his discoveries to prevent
the copper bottoms of ships from being corroded. And so in other
matters.--_Edinburgh Review_, No. 216.