Newtonian Scholarship Research Articles

Response to H. Floris Cohen's essay review on Newtonian scholarship.

Long ago, George Sarton set down criteria for reviewers. In addition to insisting on the need to compose 'faithful' reviews, he cautioned against four types of unfit reviewers: the 'egoist', the 'obscure' reviewer, the one who is noncommittal, and the pedantic critic. Unfortunately, Cohen's review comes short on several counts. Cohen writes that he intends to examine what is 'new' in the three books he reviews, and whether the results therein contained are 'worth learning' (p. 687). Cohen denies being given to 'misplaced hero worship', insisting that his sole aim is to assess whether 'scholarly novelty' (p. 693) has been attained. Nevertheless, given his repeated rebuke of the authors under review for 'failing to refer back to [Richard] Westfall's work' on Newton - now nearly half a century old-it seems that he grounded his critique principally on Westfall's interpretation.

Response to H. Floris Cohen's essay review on Newtonian scholarship.

In a review of recent Newton scholarship, H. Floris Cohen charges that my paper is not a 'case of worthwhile innovation, or even of any innovation at all'. I beg to differ.

Isaac Newton and Natural Philosophy

Isaac Newton is generally regarded as one of the greatest scientists in history, yet the spectrum of his interests was much broader than that of a contemporary scientist. He was deeply involved in alchemical, religious and biblical studies, and in the later part of his life he played a prominent role in British politics, economics and the promotion of scientific research. Newton's pivotal work Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, which sets out his laws of universal gravitation and motion, is regarded as one of the most important works in the history of science. Niccolo Guicciardini's enlightening biography offers an accessible introduction to Newton's celebrated work in mathematics, optics and astronomy and to how Newton viewed these scientific fields in relation to his quest for the deepest secrets of the universe, matter theory and religion. Guicciardini sets Newton the natural philosopher in the troubled context of the religious and political debates that took place during Newton's life, which spanned from the years of the Civil War to the Restoration, the Glorious Revolution and the Hanoverian succession. Taking into account the latest Newtonian scholarship, this fast-paced biography will appeal to all those with an interest in this iconic figure and the great scientific revolution of the early modern period.

A Contribution to the Newtonian Scholarship

Review of The “Jesuit Edition” of Isaac Newton’s Principia

The two Newtons and beyond J. E. Force and S. Hutton (eds.), Newton and Newtonianism: New Studies. International Archives of the History of Ideas 188. Dordrecht, Boston and London: Kluwer, 2004. Pp. xvii+246. ISBN 1-4020-1969-6. £67.00 (hardback). Rob Iliffe, Milo Keynes and Rebekah Higgitt (eds.), Early Biographies of Isaac Newton 1660–1885. Vol. 1: Eighteenth-Century Biography of Isaac Newton: The Unpublished

The focus of Newtonian scholarship has shifted over the last couple of decades. Compare any relevant collection of studies from the third quarter of the twentieth century with a recent one such as Newton and Newtonianism: New Studies (2004), edited by James Force and Sarah Hutton, and the changes leap to the eye. Newtonian studies have been traditionally concerned with Newton's writings and achievements in the fields of mechanics, optics and mathematics, and with his influence on the subsequent development of these disciplines – a line of enquiry that was nourished by the systematic study of unpublished materials in the post-war period and has reached a high degree of technical sophistication. In this perspective, the priority attributed to Newton's natural philosophy and mathematics reflects the assumption that Newtonian ‘science’ should be granted an unquestioned pre-eminence over the rest of his much varied production, as the latter contributed ‘little or nothing to our twentieth-century world’. The landmarks of post-war Newtonian scholarship thus aimed at the identification, analysis and interpretation of Newton's ‘scientific’ manuscripts, carefully separated from the rest of his densely written and sometimes enigmatic paperwork. Establishing such a demarcation certainly made sense within a historiographical practice directed primarily at the reconstruction of Newton's contribution to the making of modern science, and was sustained by the perception of an essential continuity between Newton's alleged main concerns and the practices of twentieth-century physics and mathematics.

Honor Thy Newton

How far has Newtonian scholarship progressed in course of two decades? Until 1990s, those students of other Sir Isaac New ton-the theologian and alchemist wrote as if an apology might in order, or at least a self-justification. Today, opposite appears to case. Theology is at front and center of Newtonian industry, Margaret Jacob informs us in her introduction to Newton and Newtonianism, followed by alchemical-chemical, and ever persistent questions about Newton's legacy (p. ix). This radical shift of scholarly interests away from mathematical and physical sciences, viewed approvingly by Jacob, coincides with passing of the greats of older generation-albeit Jacob is a bit premature in pronounc ing Tom Whiteside's demise. It also dovetails with position held by Betty Jo Dobbs that there existed a unified Newton, held together by fabric of his deep religiosity (p. xi). While such a position is open to debate, Jacob's comment that Dobbs' own religious core situated her closer to her subject than more secularist scholars might hope to be (p. xi) is cause for some concern. The implication that secular

Book Review: The Newton Industry: The Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship

Book Review: The Newton Industry: The Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship

The Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship. Richard H. Dalitz , Michael Nauenberg

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsThe Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship. Richard H. Dalitz , Michael Nauenberg Stephen D. SnobelenStephen D. Snobelen Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Isis Volume 92, Number 4Dec., 2001 Publication of the History of Science Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/385395 Views: 2Total views on this site Copyright 2001 The History of Science Society, Inc.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Foundations of Newtonian scholarship

The Foundations of Newtonian scholarship

Newton's Propositions on Comets: Steps in Transition, 1681–84

Isaac Newton's closest approach to a system of the world in the critical period 1681–84 is provided in a set of untitled propositions concerning comets. They drastically revise his position maintained against Flamsteed in 1681 and may signal his adoption of a single comet solution for the appearances of 1680/1. Points of agreement and difference with the key pre-Principia texts of 1684–85 are analysed. He shows substantial control of the phenomena of tails which change very little in mechanical detail throughout his subsequent work. An emerging theory of gravitation brings planets, their satellites, and comets under the same laws of motion, yet retains a celestial vortex and includes a singular proposition in lieu of the usual formulation of Keplers area law. The analysis raises questions on a number of issues of recent Newtonian scholarship ranging from his achievement following his correspondence with Robert Hooke in 1679 to his veneration of the wisdom of the ancients.

ニュートン哲学における科学の古典性について

I attempt in this paper to survey the classical features which lie in the concept and methodology of the Newtonian science. To this end I summarize the concept of science in the Aristotelian philosophy, and utilize several recent results in the Newtonian scholarship.

‘Voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone’

A. Rupert Hall. Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought . Blackwells, Oxford, 1992. Pp. xv + 468, £19.99. ISBN 0631179062 Rupert Hall has been at the centre of Newtonian scholarship for forty years. This elegant volume, the mature product of a near-lifetime of intensive study and reflection, has been well worth waiting for. Throughout his long life (1642-1727) Newton was continually re-writing, amending and discarding his many drafts. His huge manuscript legacy has been extensively explored - and much of it published - during recent years. Hall is completely at home among this mass of material. His numerous cross- references and quotations - many from Newton himself - are meticulously indexed in some 900 separate notes.

The latest on Newton...*

How recent? The remarkably comprehensive and accurate Newton handbook which Derek Gjertsen published in 1986 saves me the need to go back more than three years, nor will I here for the most part. The periodical literature on Newton the man and his intellectual achievement of course grows apace, mostly in journals which are taken only by the largest or most specialized libraries. I can only urge anyone who wishes to keep up with this flood of paper (much of it decidedly ephemeral) continually to glance through the several general bibliographies of the history of science that appear annually or more often. First, a more generous word about Gjertsen’s Handbook . This really is one of those rarities: a genuinely informative vade-mecum which (do I let the secret out?) even those solidly established scholars who are given potted biographies inside keep to hand along with their well-worn Concise s and other trusty reference books. May I (who know something of this) state that here is the puree of what must have been thousands of hours spent in patiently compiling and assiduously checking the clear and readable summaries which he gives of hundreds of widely differing sources. Let me suppress the perfectionism in me which quite heartlessly scorns the few minimissimal errors I have so far found in Gjertsen’s book, and simply commend it to all who wish to broaden their familiarity with the complex skein of what the best Newtonian scholarship has so far (foolish he or she who ever ignores the like of Edelston....) brought to light and furbished.

Newtonianism after 300 years

Very nearly 41 years ago the Royal Society organized very grand tercentenary celebrations of Newton’s birth, celebrations postponed by the war from their due date. There was a large and distinguished international gathering, all of whom went to Cambridge and a few to Grantham and Woolsthorpe. I suppose few of us here will be able to compare the character of the quatercentenary functions! To the best of my knowledge, the various events of the present year are the first largescale public commemorations of the publication of the Philosophiae naturalis Principia mathematica . It may be, of course, that the preparation of the very first attempt at Newtonian scholarship, Stephen Peter Rigaud’s Historical Essay on the First Publication of Sir Isaac Newton´s Principia , was stimulated by the 150th anniversary falling in the previous year. At the bicentenary (1887) there was a ceremony in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, when the physicist J. W. L. Glaisher gave an address, but for 1937 I have found only a single obscure Australian publication. Perhaps, however, that anniversary of half a century ago had something to do with the Royal Society’s plan of 1939 to edit Newton’s correspondence. The speakers celebrating Newton in 1946 were scientists of the greatest distinction, rather than professional historians of science. Among those attending the celebrations, however, were a number of men who have published historical studies: Andrade, Abetti, Brasch, Brodetsky, Whittaker, for example. H. W . Turnbull, who was to become the first editor of Newton’s correspondence, gave one lecture on Newton as a mathematician.

The Annus Mirabilis of Sir Isaac Newton 1666–1966

At the beginning of 1665, when Isaac Newton was twenty-three years old, he returned to his native village for a period of two years to escape the plague that had closed down Cambridge University. He later wrote that these years were his most fruitful and creative, and recalls in particular that in 1666 he developed the integral calculus, experimentally verified the composite nature of light, and refined his gravitational theory to the point that he was able to satisfy himself through calculation that the earth's gravity holds the moon in orbit. Recent Newtonian scholarship has effectively called his memory into question somewhat on these points, but the marvelous of 1666 may surely be taken as symbolic of a decisive turning point in the history of human thought.Three hundred years later, in order to commemorate Newton's best year by considering the whole of his life, work, outlook, and influence, the Conference on Newtonian Studies was held at the University of Texas. The articles in this book, many since expanded or revised, were originally prepared for that event. Their authors include not only Newton specialists but, in order to provide the widest perspective, general historians of ideas, of science, of art, of philosophy and religion, were invited as well. Several philosophers of science and practicing physicists have contributed evaluations of Newton's world within the framework of modern science.Another group of scholars was invited to write brief critical comments on most of the articles, and the dialogue that results, often spirited, will invite the reader to join in.The major articles and their authors are as follows: Introduction, Robert Palter. Newton's Life and Society: The Lad from Lincolnshire, Frank E. Manuel. Newton and His Society, Christopher Hill. II. Newton's Scientific Achievements: Newton and the Theory of Matter, A. Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall. Sources and Strengths of Newton's Early Mathematical Thought, D. T. Whiteside. Uneasily Fitful Reflections on Fits of Easy Transmission, Richard S. Westfall. Newton's and Leibniz' Dynamics, Pierre Costabel. Newton's Achievements in Dynamics, John Herivel. Newton's Second Law and the Concept of Force in the Principia, I. Bernard Cohen. Reactions of Late Baroque Mechanics to Success, Conjecture, Error, and Failure in Newton's Principia, C. Truesdell. Newtonian Cosmology, E. L. Schucking. III. Philosophical Analysis of Newton's Scientific Achievements: Newton and the Inductive Method, Robert Palter. Newtonian Space-Time, Howard Stein. The Philosophical Significance of Newton's Science, Dudley Shapere. IV. Newton's Influence: The Apotheosis of Newton in Art, Francis Haskell. Mechanical Philosophy and Hypothetical Physiology, William Coleman. The Religious Consequences of Newton's Thought, John Herman Randall, Jr.The critical comments were written by David Hakes, Lawrence Stone, Asger Aaboe, Thomas S. Kuhn, J. M. Briggs, Jr., Gerd Buchdahl, J. E. McGuire, A. E. Woodruff, and Jurgen Ehlers.