Astronomer Harlow Shapley once firmly believed that there was only one galaxy in the universe, but when he was presented with evidence that disproved his view, he said, "it destroyed his universe." Instead of stubbornly holding on to his beliefs, he made a remarkable shift in his perspective and dedicated the rest of his career to mapping 76,000 galaxies.

He is also known for initially opposing Edwin Hubble's observations, which suggested the existence of additional galaxies in the universe beyond the Milky Way. Shapley vehemently criticized Hubble's work and dismissed it as junk science. However, after receiving a letter from Hubble that included Hubble's observed light curve of V1, he retracted his criticism. He reportedly told a colleague, "Here is the letter that destroyed my universe."

He even encouraged Hubble to write a paper for a joint meeting of the American Astronomical Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science. Hubble's findings went on to fundamentally reshape the scientific view of the universe.