Isaac Newton and the Scientific Revolution – Journal Response II
After finishing the book, ‘Isaac Newton and the Scientific Revolution’, I still think of one thing; how this book really shows Newton’s accomplishments throughout his life, and how it helped benefit humanity as a whole, even to this day. The author, Christianson, had implemented an extended amount of quotes compared to the first half of the book, which is a very nice addition to his writing. This new input was probably done so because of the new events in Newton’s life, which were the constant rivals and academic relationships. In addition to that, the author has a unique writing style which gives the reader a feeling like they knew Newton personally. Furthermore, the author used very emotional and inspirational writing during the final pages to conclude Newton’s death and how greatly the great scientific figure went down in history. I have greatly enjoyed this book because of these reasons.
A defining accomplishment which made Newton famous during his times (but not so necessarily nowadays) was how he was put in charge of minting the queen’s coins in 1699. Since many fraudulent coins existed and people wanted to change that, and how the overall secrecy and importance of the making of the coins were important for Britain’s economy, Newton’s job of protecting the coin-manufacturing formula becomes a highly regarded one. Newton’s high placing and rank in the job of the ‘master of the mint’ was quite an important task to him and furthered his already huge fame. He was even reported to have been working for the mint more than his scientific studies which have made him so famous. However, the irony of this accomplishment of Newton’s is how no one in modern days remembered Newton for his promotion to ‘the master of the mint’, and how much wealth he attained from this prestige job. Instead, the credits that millions have given him were for his scientific discoveries.
This is a great example of how the success of one in terms of monetary value cannot compete with the succession of their gifts to humanity as a whole. Newton gave us an important asset. It wasn’t because of his profits and duties from minting Britain’s coins. It was how Newton gave us the practical knowledge that every person can learn, cherish, and build from his discoveries in the scientific realm. Newton has given us so much from his law of gravity, from his work in light optics, and his mathematical invention of calculus. Without him, we would not have been able to make man land on the moon from his theory of gravity. Without him, we would not have been able to calculate some of the most advanced mathematical problems without calculus. This is also why calculus has been regarded as one of the fundamental tools for many scientific applications. This brings us to the conclusion that Newton has made many good accomplishments in his lifetime, like being appointed to the master of the mint. However, it was not those monetary and political accomplishments that made him famous; it was his contribution to society as a whole through his scientific discoveries and accomplishments.
One of these scientific discoveries, which was probably the best in which Newton was and is still known for, was his theory of gravity and his basic laws of motion. These discoveries were all published in a single work called “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica”. A direct quote from the book on page 77, commenting on this work was: “A book nobody understands”. This quote is indeed true as many people found it too sophisticated to understand the language Newton’s book was written in and to further digest his complex mathematical ideas. A great supporting example of this was on page 83: “After it was published, Newton was passed on the street by a student who is said to have remarked, “There goes the man that writt a book that neither he nor anybody else understands.” Christianson, among many others have repeatedly wrote about this because of the implication it gives; about how Newton’s calculations and mathematics were immensely complicated and how this furthers the consensus of just how the great man was so intellectual. A good connection of this accomplishment by Newton would be with Einstein’s work on the Theory of Relativity. A similar number of individuals have remarked about the comprehensiveness of Einstein’s work. I distinctly remember how a science teacher lectured about how only three people understood Einstein’s math when Einstein had first introduced his Theory of Relativity to the public. It was not surprising that both the renowned intellectuals, Einstein and Newton, had trouble with people trying to understand their great work.
Newton had many great accomplishments, though we must give credit to Christianson for his excellent style in writing. As I read the second half of the book, I have begun to notice how he has incorporated and increased the amount of quotes within each chapter. This was because he was writing about Newton’s relationships with his fellow academic scholars and academic rivals. There were many disputes and important conversations between them and Newton, which was why Christianson put so many quotes from everyone. This was a good writing technique that the author used because of the fact that he was talking about the relationships between Newton and his colleagues. The quotes made all of the connections and ties with Newton’s relationships easier to understand as a whole and created a great grounding in which readers can see more into Newton’s general personality and him as a person.
In the final chapter, ‘Like a Boy on the Seashore’, Christianson’s writing changed somewhat and had an emotion which made my heart sadden because of his change in style. It was expected for the last chapter to have an overall sad mood though, because of the fact that it was talking about Newton’s last days. Some good examples of Christianson’s writing in this sad mood were on page 144: “On March 23 the following entry, simple yet touching, appeared in the Journal Book of the Royal Society: “The Chair being Vacant by the Death of Sir Isaac Newton there is no Meeting this Day.” The author’s description of the entry being “simple yet touching” strengthens the grieving emotions that he has bonded with his writing. This overall dark mood helps the reader feel like they knew Newton personally by reading about all of his adventures and accomplishments, from the day he was born, until the final moments before his death, and makes the reader remorseful because of this. It allows the reader to actually step into Newton’s life, allowing the reader to savour every moment. This creates a very nice concluding effect to really grasp Newton’s great life, which is why I like this biography.
This book, ‘Isaac Newton and the Scientific Revolution’, by Gale E. Christianson was an interesting read and effectively demonstrated the accomplishments in Newton’s life from the author’s writing style, which included many devices such as the implementation of numerous quotes, and the setting of a dark mood towards the end of the book, along with the actual achievements Newton has accomplished during his lifetime. There were many connections that could be made from Newton’s life, such as the similarity between him and Einstein, and how his scientific work benefited all of humanity. I have greatly enjoyed this book because of all of these reasons.
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