> I have to admit that it smells like phlogiston and aether to me You know what else smells like phlogiston? Oxygen. There really is an invisible, odorless, ta

> I have to admit that it smells like phlogiston and aether to me You know what else smells like phlogiston? Oxygen. There really is an invisible, odorless, tasteless gas responsible for combustion, plant growth, and breathing. 17th century chemists thought that it was released during combustion, absorbed by plants, and expelled by the lungs. Turns out it's absorbed during combustion, released by plants, and taken in by the lungs. Phlogiston was a reasonable theory, well supported by the available evidence at the time. It was also wrong. Most theories are. But this could not have possibly been predicted a priori.