坐牢家爸爸给女儿的八十封信 精彩片段：
他们六个
亲爱的小文：
你要爸爸给你讲六个科学家，好。现在就照你开来的名字讲。
第一个是亚里士多德（Aristotle），活了六十二岁。
公元前五到四世纪的时候，有四个人有师生关系，并且都是大名人，前三个人都是哲学家（philosophers），最后一个是东征西讨的皇帝Alexander the Great。
苏格拉底
柏拉图 亚里士多德 亚历山大
Socrates Plato Aristotle Alexander
Socrates greatest pupil Platos greatest pupil Aristotles greatest pupil
Aristotle的学问很大，是哲学家，也是教育家（educator），也是科学家（scientist），他在科学方面的著作有logic、physics、natural history、psychology……但他究竟是两千三百年前的人，他的科学有很多错误，比如他认为地球是宇宙中心，太阳星星绕地球转，这是错的；他认为月亮表面是光滑的，自己发光，这是错的；他认为同时下落，重的东西比轻的东西先着地，这是错的；他认为男人的牙比女人多，这也是错的，这大概是Mrs. Aristotle的牙掉了的缘故！
Aristotle的真正贡献，chief contribution是他把学问造成一个“继往开来”（to carry on the heritage so as to pave the way for future generations）的局面，使人类爱真理（truth）。
Aristotle在他的Ethica（ethics伦理学）中表示他爱老师Plato，但是更爱真理。在中国也有这种看法，叫“当仁不让于师”。（to yield to nobody when one is doing what is right；do not refuse to accept a reward or position which one deserves；to be behind none in the desire to benefit mankind.）Aristotle differed from Plato both in the aims of his philosophy and in the methods of his investigation. In his Ethica he states that, while both Plato and truth are dear to him, he is bound to prefer truth.
While Aristotle was a biologist of note, even if we allow for some rather peculiar lapses, his views on physics and astronomy were hopelessly muddled. Plato, combining the Milesian and Pythagorean traditions, had been much nearer the mark, and so were later Hellenistic scientists like Aristarchus and Eratosthenes. Aristotles most famous contribution to systematic thought is probably his work in logic.
对Aristotle在science方面的conclusion是——300s B.C. Aristotles studies in logic and classification contributed to the foundations of science.
第二个科学家——伽利略（Galileo），活了七十八岁。Galileo was the first great experimenter and the father of modern astronomy. He was also an outstanding mathematician. Galileo说