Digging Foundations for the ‘Royal Road’

H.N. Russell and Z. Kopal both liked the metaphor of the “Royal Road” to scientific discovery; I discuss which one used it first. I present some personal reminiscences of Professor Kopal and then consider his attitude to the determination of the elements of eclipsing binaries from their observed light changes, comparing it with that of Russell. This leads me to discuss Kopal’s work on the evolution of binary stars and his opposition to the prevailing belief in the importance of mass transfer between the components. Kopal’s attitudes on these matters puzzle me, but I suggest that at least part of his motivation was to act as a critic of “normal science” within the paradigm that most of us have accepted.