Difference between revisions of "Isaac Newton"

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(drop unfounded speculation; he did not believe Jesus was God)
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Newton believed that God's creation of the universe was self evident given its grandeur.<ref>Webb, R.K. ed. Knud Haakonssen. “The emergence of Rational Dissent.” Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.</ref>  He also warned against using his laws to replace the creator.  He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."<ref>Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.</ref>
 
Newton believed that God's creation of the universe was self evident given its grandeur.<ref>Webb, R.K. ed. Knud Haakonssen. “The emergence of Rational Dissent.” Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.</ref>  He also warned against using his laws to replace the creator.  He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."<ref>Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.</ref>
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Some biographers have speculated, without justification, that Newton's views would today be considered those of a [[Unitarian]],<ref>Bell, E.T. Men of Mathematics.</ref> or an [[Arian]].  Those who reject [[Christ]]'s divinity claim without justification that Newton likewise rejected it.  The quotations of Newton that they cite say no such thing.<ref>ISAAC NEWTON'S TWELVE ARTICLES ON GOD AND CHRIST,KEYNES MS 8, KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. http://www.isaacnewton.ca/keynes/Keynes_8.en.html "Artic. 9. We need not pray to Christ to intercede for us. If we pray the father aright he will intercede."</ref>
 
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However, the evidence for Newton holding to Arianism is scant.  It is true that Newton held a lot to himself, but to say that because of his association with William Whiston, that he is therefore an Arianist is hardly conclusive. It is more probable that Newton held to an Eastern Orthodox view of the Trinity.<ref>ISAAC NEWTON'S TWELVE ARTICLES ON GOD AND CHRIST,KEYNES MS 8, KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. http://www.isaacnewton.ca/keynes/Keynes_8.en.html "Artic. 12. To us there is but one God the father of whom are all things and we of him, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him. That is, we are to worship the father alone as God Almighty and Jesus alone as the Lord the Messiah the great King the Lamb of God who was slain and hath redeemed us with his blood and made us kings and Priests."</ref>
 
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John Conduitt, the husband of Newton's niece had this to say about Newton's theology.
 
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"I had no hesitation when writing the Like of Sir Isaac Newton in 1830, in coming to the conclusions that he was a believer in the Trinity; and in giving  this opinion on the creed of so great a man, and so indefatigable a student of scripture, I was well aware that there are various forms of Trinitarian truth, and various modes of expressing it, which have been received as orthodox in the purest societies of the Christian Church."<ref>Thomas C. Pfizenmaier - Was Isaac Newton an Arian?. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-5037(199701)58%3A1%3C57%3AWINAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O</ref>
 
  
 
In an effort to debunk widespread claims of his time that the world would be ending soon, Newton wrote a private manuscript estimating that the world would not end prior to the year A.D. 2060.<ref>http://www.isaac-newton.org/newton_2060.htm</ref>
 
In an effort to debunk widespread claims of his time that the world would be ending soon, Newton wrote a private manuscript estimating that the world would not end prior to the year A.D. 2060.<ref>http://www.isaac-newton.org/newton_2060.htm</ref>

Revision as of 01:59, September 17, 2008

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Sir Isaac Newton was an English scientist who lived from 1634 to 1727. Newton was a physicist, astronomer, mathematician, alchemist, and government official. He is best known for his Theory of Universal Gravitation and his Laws of Motion. He also developed calculus for the purpose of his work in physics.[1] In addition, Newton invented the reflecting telescope, and made numerous other contributions to his fields of study.

Newton was the first to demonstrate that the same laws that govern the motion of celestial objects also govern the motion of things on Earth. Newton contributed greatly to the advancement of science. His work also advanced the concept of heliocentrism (the view that the Sun is at the center of the solar system).

Newton's view of science was that far more remained undiscovered. "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."[2]

In 1705, in recognition of Isaac Newton's role as master of the Mint, Queen Anne knighted him. [3] It was the first knighthood to be given for scientific achievement rather than prowess on the battlefield or work in government. [4]

Newton is often seen as one of the most influential men in all of history and perhaps the greatest scientist ever. His work was influential even in philosophy, as he inspired Kant to create the philosophical concepts of the categorical imperative and the synthetic a priori.

After his death and burial, Newton was exhumed so he could be buried in a more prominent location in Westminster Abbey. During this exhumation process, it was discovered that Newton had large amounts of mercury in his body, probably as a direct result of his alchemical experiments. Exposure to large amounts of mercury may explain Newton’s eccentricity in his latter years, as well as his cause of death.[5]

Gravity

Newton developed the Theory of Universal Gravitation, more commonly known as gravity, when, according to legend, a falling apple struck him on the head. He realized that the same force that pulled the apple to the ground could be what keeps Jupiter's moons in orbit. His theory stated that all matter is attracted to matter by a force, whose strength increases proportionally to the mass of the objects involved, and inversely proportional to the squared distance between them. Newton's theory is based on action-at-a-distance which has always been opposed by some scientists, and now most physicists endorse the very different theory of relativity. Both theories predict identical results at small scales, similar results at the scale of the solar system and very different results at cosmological scales beyond the solar system.

Religious Beliefs

Newton was an Arian who rejected the Trinity and was ambiguous about the divinity of Christ. As his leading biographer concludes, "Well before 1675, Newton had become an Arian in the original sense of the term." That is, he emphasized the powers of God the father and deemphasized Jesus.[6] He considered himself a Christian who accepted the Bible as the Word of God,[7] after the age of 25 he devoted much--perhaps most--of his thinking to religion. His unorthodox views violated the rules at Cambridge University, but his colleagues protected him.

Newton was a sincere religious believer, who said his discoveries were inspired by God. He devoted more time to the study of Scripture than to science. Newton wrote, "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being... All variety of created objects which represent order and life in the universe could happen only by the willful reasoning of its original Creator, Whom I call the Lord God."

Newton believed that God's creation of the universe was self evident given its grandeur.[8] He also warned against using his laws to replace the creator. He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."[9]

In an effort to debunk widespread claims of his time that the world would be ending soon, Newton wrote a private manuscript estimating that the world would not end prior to the year A.D. 2060.[10]

Reference

  1. ↑ Newton's discovery of calculus was independent of, and likely before, a similar discovery of calculus by the German physicist Gottfried Leibniz. (Each accused the other of plagiarism, but neither could prove it. Newton Biography).
  2. ↑ Bartlett's Quotations
  3. ↑ Sir Isaac Newton (1642/3–1727): A Scientific Genius, by Ann Lamont[1]
  4. ↑ Isaac Newton and God's Law of Gravity[2]
  5. ↑ Newton Biography[3]
  6. ↑ Westfall, Never at Rest p. 103. Westfall notes, p. 350, "No evidence at all indicates that Newton ceased to be an Arian."
  7. ↑ "I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily." Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.
  8. ↑ Webb, R.K. ed. Knud Haakonssen. “The emergence of Rational Dissent.” Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.
  9. ↑ Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.
  10. ↑ http://www.isaac-newton.org/newton_2060.htm

Bibliography

  • Westfall, Richard S. Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton (1983), 928pp excerpt and text search, the standard scholarly biography
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