This book is a brilliant confirmation of the eternal truth “only those who do nothing make no mistakes”! To err is human, and great minds make truly great mistakes. American astrophysicist Mario Livio decided to explore the errors of the most brilliant scientists in the history of mankind and understand not only the essence of these blunders, but also the psychological reasons behind them, and most importantly, how they influenced the further progress of mankind. Darwin, Kelvin, Einstein, Pauling, Hoyle - these names are familiar to us from school, but we had no idea what dead-ends erroneous assumptions, haste or stubbornness led these geniuses into and what unexpected ways out of these dead-ends life itself found... The reader is in for a fascinating experience an excursion into the history and evolution of science, which will not only broaden your horizons, but also help you understand that the ability to make mistakes is a great gift. A gift without which a person cannot be human.