Augustus De Morgan investigates the nature of paradoxers and unorthodox thinkers through a vast collection of eccentric works gathered over a third of a century. The central problem addresses why self-taught individuals perpetually reinvent absurdities, such as squaring the circle or inventing perpetual motion, without troubling themselves to learn what prior generations have already established.
The author classifies these aberrations, drawing upon numerous historical examples from early arithmeticians, alchemists, and astrologers. He presents detailed examinations of misguided attempts in geometry, physics, and theology, demonstrating how the lack of fundamental knowledge leads to elaborate yet empty systems of thought.
Particular attention is given to the history of mathematical approximations, the controversies surrounding the motion of the earth, and the various methods by which scholars and amateurs alike have attempted to correct established science. De Morgan intersperses these accounts with personal anecdotes from his extensive interactions with contemporary eccentric discoverers.
The work also explores the history of scientific societies, editorial practices in modern journalism, and the recurring friction between orthodoxy and novel opinion. Through wit and rigorous historical perspective, De Morgan reveals the underlying mechanics of error across diverse fields of human inquiry.
The volume concludes with extensive examinations of specific paradoxes, concluding that true advancement in thought invariably rests upon a thorough comprehension of the intellectual ancestry that came before.
