 Of course, particular thought experiments have been contested. But for the most part, the practice of thought experiments in the sciences has been cheerfully accepted. Pierre Duhem, the great historian of physics, is almost alone in what has been understood as an outright condemnation of scientific thought experiments (see Duhem 1913, pp. 304–311). A thought experiment is no substitute for a real experiment, he claimed, and should be forbidden in science, including science education. However, in view of the important role of actual thought experiments in the history of physics — from Galileo’s falling bodies, to Newton’s bucket, to Einstein’s elevator — it is unlikely that anyone will feel or should feel much sympathy for Duhem’s strictures. We hasten to add that Buzzoni (2018) questions the validity of this reading of Duhem, and argues that already Mach’s reception of Duhem’s views suggests a more nuanced reading of Duhem’s position.