If Newton is to be understood he must be considered within the framework of his own times, not solely from a twentieth century scientific point of view. As a seeker of universal knowledge, God was for Newton the universe and hence the universe had to be investigated through theological studies as well as mathematical researches. Alchemy was another facet through which Newton hoped to understand creation: he was certainly not looking for metallic gold. These different sides of Newton's genius are here discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
KeynesLord: ‘Newton, the man’, in ‘Royal Society Newton Tercentenary Celebrations 15–19 July 1946’, 27; 1947, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Thelecture was posthumously presented.
ManuelF.: ‘A portrait of Isaac Newton’; 1968, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1980, London.
5.
StorrA.: ‘Churchill's black dog, Kafka's mice and other phenomena of the human mind’, 83–104; 1988, New York, Grove Press.
6.
WestfallR. S.: ‘Never at rest’; 1980, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
7.
Voltaire: ‘Elements de la philosophie de Newton [1741]’, (ed. WaltersR. L. and BarberW. H.), 222–223; 1992, Oxford, Oxford University Press. John Conduitt, Newton's nephew in law, confirms that at the end of his life Newton chose a vegetarian diet.
8.
HiscockW. G.: ‘David Gregory, Isaac Newton and their circle’, 30; 1937, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
9.
Anon.: ‘Five Letters from Sir Isaac Newton to Doctor Bentley’, 1; 1756, London.
10.
DobbsB. J. T., ‘The Janus faces of genius’; 1991, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
11.
DobbsB. J. T.: ‘The foundations of Newton's alchemy’; 1975, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
