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Genius, mathematician, scientist – in Opticks, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) summed up a lifetime’s experiments on light, prisms, and color. In his long and honor-filled life, he was a Cambridge professor, England’s Warden of the Mint, and eventual president of the Royal Society. A firm believer in reason and the ability of human beings to understand how the universe worked (“the inward frame of bodies is not yet known to us,” he writes in one place, with apparent confidence that eventually it would be), he also devoted considerable mental effort to the riddles of alchemy. The French philosophe Voltaire attended Newton’s funeral in 1727, later writing that “in a country where mortals are canonized, his discoveries might very well pass for miracles.”
Newton’s earliest optical paper, published in 1672, was the result of his experiments to solve the problem of chromatic aberration in telescopes – that is, aberration caused by differences in refraction of the colored rays of the spectrum. Having ground his own lenses for nearly ten years, Newton concluded that white light contained all colors and that different colors refracted to different degrees. His subsequent invention of the reflecting telescope is described in Opticks in Book I. Two additional essays in this 1704 edition are excursions into higher mathematics.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
9 7/8 x 8 inches (251 x 203 mm)
Newton’s earliest optical paper, published in 1672, was the result of his experiments to solve the problem of chromatic aberration in telescopes – that is, aberration caused by differences in refraction of the colored rays of the spectrum. Having ground his own lenses for nearly ten years, Newton concluded that white light contained all colors and that different colors refracted to different degrees. His subsequent invention of the reflecting telescope is described in Opticks in Book I. Two additional essays in this 1704 edition are excursions into higher mathematics.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
9 7/8 x 8 inches (251 x 203 mm)
Roasted Research
As Thomas Kuhn has pointed out in his Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the mythologizing tendency in “normal” science is to represent its own history as a linear journey down the highway of progress without detours into roadside rest areas, let alone wrong exits. The publishing history of Opticks suggests a different story. By Newton’s own admission, most of the research described in the book had been completed long before the first edition reproduced here. Indeed, anecdotes from Newton’s Cambridge days include the story than an earlier draft of this work was destroyed in 1692 by a fire in his room, caused by a candle left burning while the scientist went to supper.
As Thomas Kuhn has pointed out in his Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the mythologizing tendency in “normal” science is to represent its own history as a linear journey down the highway of progress without detours into roadside rest areas, let alone wrong exits. The publishing history of Opticks suggests a different story. By Newton’s own admission, most of the research described in the book had been completed long before the first edition reproduced here. Indeed, anecdotes from Newton’s Cambridge days include the story than an earlier draft of this work was destroyed in 1692 by a fire in his room, caused by a candle left burning while the scientist went to supper.
Learned Latin
The 1704 edition of Opticks includes two mathematical treatises in Latin, the “Tractatus de Quadratura Curvarum” and the “Enumeratio Linearum Tertii Ordinis” (the main text is in English). Why did Newton choose to write and publish them in Latin? Although one important result of the Reformation was to undo the compulsory relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Europe’s universities, Latin continued to be used by scientists and speculative philosophers across the continent; hence it was part of the standard curriculum for anyone considering higher education. It was only natural that Newton learned Latin before going to college, and though never a florid stylist, he shows a command of the language which never leads the reader astray. Newton’s concepts are often complex, but the Latin in which he couches them is no more difficult than Livy’s (and considerably easier reading than, say, Sallust or Suetonius).
The 1704 edition of Opticks includes two mathematical treatises in Latin, the “Tractatus de Quadratura Curvarum” and the “Enumeratio Linearum Tertii Ordinis” (the main text is in English). Why did Newton choose to write and publish them in Latin? Although one important result of the Reformation was to undo the compulsory relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Europe’s universities, Latin continued to be used by scientists and speculative philosophers across the continent; hence it was part of the standard curriculum for anyone considering higher education. It was only natural that Newton learned Latin before going to college, and though never a florid stylist, he shows a command of the language which never leads the reader astray. Newton’s concepts are often complex, but the Latin in which he couches them is no more difficult than Livy’s (and considerably easier reading than, say, Sallust or Suetonius).
Alchemical Aspirations
In addition to his foundational work in the accepted sciences, Isaac Newton devoted a considerable portion of his labors to alchemy and alchemical experimentation. These efforts have gained increased attention in recent years through the works of scholars such as Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and William Newman, who have demonstrated both the extent of Newton’s involvement in esoteric matters and the influence of Hermetic theories on Newton’s work in the conventional sciences (for instance, his Three Laws of Motion have been correlated to the principles embodied in the alchemical elements Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury). Viewing Newton’s works in their first editions facilitates deeper investigation of the complexly interrelated scientific and philosophical cultures in which they were created.
In addition to his foundational work in the accepted sciences, Isaac Newton devoted a considerable portion of his labors to alchemy and alchemical experimentation. These efforts have gained increased attention in recent years through the works of scholars such as Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and William Newman, who have demonstrated both the extent of Newton’s involvement in esoteric matters and the influence of Hermetic theories on Newton’s work in the conventional sciences (for instance, his Three Laws of Motion have been correlated to the principles embodied in the alchemical elements Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury). Viewing Newton’s works in their first editions facilitates deeper investigation of the complexly interrelated scientific and philosophical cultures in which they were created.
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