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For the Week of 11/12/08 |
Assignment 11
Fig.
Newton
NewtonÕs
Death Mask [inverted to be creepier]
Read pp. 110-190 in the Westfall
book that you all bought. I had
forgotten how ambiguous Westfall can be when it comes to dates in this edited
down version of the life of Newton that we are reading. Here is a timeline that
may help you figure things out a bit better. – Basic
Newton Timeline
Read this short (one page) fictional
free association: Newton-Reverie-1666ish.htm
Look over the stuff I have posted
below.
Read the following selections from
the Queries from Opticks: pp.
339-354, 362-377 (note the alchemical descriptions), 388-389, 398-406 (Queries
1-24, 28, 29, parts of 30, and parts of 31). Read Newton_QueriesExcerpts-6MB.pdf. I have also posted an edited version of
Query 31 as a separate .htm page.
If you read the Newman chapter on alchemy last week [p. 513], it
referred to Query 31 in The Opticks for NewtonÕs use of
Starkey/Helmontian/Gerberian matter theory. Newton-Opticks-edited-Query_31.htm
Read NewtonÕs thoughts on absolute
space and a couple of his letters to Bentley. pp. 202-207 and 211-216: Munitz-ed.
Newton_Chapter-4.1MB.pdf From
– Munitz, Milton Karl, ed. Theories
of the Universe; from Babylonian Myth to Modern Science, The Library of
Scientific Thought. Glencoe, Ill.,: Free Press, 1965. The Newton chapter includes ÒScholiumÓ (absolute vs.
relative space – bucket discussion), ÒGeneral ScholiumÓ that
Newton added to the 2nd ed. of Principia
in 1713, and four letters to Bentley. Here is a separate .htm of the ÒGeneral
Scholium.Ó: Newton-Principia-GENERAL_SCHOLIUM.htm.
Write: Compare with, contrast to,
analyze, think, muse, converse with, expand, derive, invent, reinvent, show,
prove, give evidence for, cite, imitate, expose something.
Dark
Side of the ...
This is
a diagram from NewtonÕs Opticks from
1704.
I have
added some interpretive images and a new title.
Newton
drew this for a French ed. of Opticks. It says, ÒLight doesnÕt vary color when
refracted.Ó
Nec variat lux
fracta colorem. More literally: Light doesnÕt change when broken into
color.
I
colorized it to for clarity. Some of the light from the hole in the
window-covering on the left (focused by that big lens) is intercepted by the
prism, and some of it continues on to hit the lower part of the screen. The
prism emits a rainbow. The
red-part of the rainbow then passes through a hole in the screen and into
another prism where it is not broken up anymore, proving thatÉ
Nec variat lux
fracta colorem – Light doesnÕt change when broken into color
Read this.
From
NewtonÕs Opticks, 1st ed.
1704. Read this.
Above
is a diagram from NewtonÕs Opticks
(1704) which I have colorized for clarity.
Notice
that he is suggesting that the rainbow is divided into 7 colors
just
as the string of a monochord is divided into 7 intervals, the seven intervals
of our major scale: Do, re, mi, faÉ etc.
Newton
even gives the Pythagorean-style intervals: 8/9, 3/4, 2/3, 1/2É.
Below
I have added to his diagram the profile of a monochord/guitar with the
Pythagorean intervals shown below.
Interesting
triviaÉ (extracted from a paper I once wroteÉ)
Leibniz, the
German/French counterpart to Newton, after having read NewtonÕs Opticks, wrote, ÒSir Isaac Newton says,
that space is an organ, which God makes use of to perceive things by.Ó [from Clarke, Leibniz, Newton and
Alexander, The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence:
Together with Extracts From Newton's Principia and Opticks. Philosophical
Classics (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1956), p. 11.]
What Leibniz was responding to
was this (in the Latin edition of Opticks
that Leibniz was reading), ÒUniversal Space is the
Sensorium of the Incorporeal, Living, and Intelligent Being;ÉÓ Newton had actually corrected this
passage by making it clear that he was making an analogy, but Leibniz somehow
had gotten an uncorrected edition.
What Newton means is
this: Perception occurs by exposing
Òsensing substanceÓ [What he calls Òsubstantia
sentiensÓ in
Latin] to the
Òsensible species of thingsÓ [Òsensibiles rerum speciesÓ], which are
gathered and brought to the brain where this Òsensing substanceÓ is
located. This description needs
almost no modification to be a Galenic/Avicennic description of sensory
perception based on spiritus animalis, which
we have discussed in previous classes. I find it quite interesting that Newton
is still operating on this theory of perception.
Newton goes on in the corrected
passage to suggest that God, being omnipresent, perceives the entire universe
merely by being present throughout all space. It is not so much that the all of space is GodÕs sensorium, but that God is everywhere
and acts as if [tanquam] He were the spiritus animalis of human perception.
Unlike humans, who need spiritus or
Òsensing substanceÓ to connect their souls to the world, God needs no
intermediary for the perception of the world. He is Himself, as it were, the intermediary, the spiritus. After all, what do you think the Holy Spirit is?
Put another way: It would be
like saying that God is the machine code (or perhaps the system software) of
the universal computer that we call reality. He permeates everything and is everywhere. Nothing is instigated or caused without
His 0s and 1s. For Him, causing
and perceiving are one and the same activity. Freaky.
Disclaimer: Newton had a rather
radical opinion of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was secretly an anti-Trinitarian and
a follower of the teachings of Arius from the early 4th century AD,
who proposed that the Son was not coeternal with God but had actually been
created by God in time. This issue is directly addressed in the Nicaean Creed,
which makes the Trinity Òone in being.Ó
It was written very specifically against Arius who was then
excommunicated for his heretical ideas.
The Council of Nicaea (the meeting that wrote the creed) was largely
instigated by the Emperor Constantine and can quite easily be seen as a
political exercise whereby a certain group of theologians seized control and
solidified their power by officially making their adversaries heretics. It is not much of a surprise that the
winners of this controversy were the ones backed by the Emperor
Constantine. Christianity in the
first couple hundred years was theologically very diverse, but when the Roman
Emperor got involved such variety was no longer acceptable. Power from the top down
became the structure. After all,
the Roman Catholic Church is Roman, as in Roman Empire.
Newton, an avid Biblical
scholar, and probably several other major players in the later Scientific
Revolution were secretly followers of Arius. Secretly, because even after fourteen-hundred years, Arius was
still considered a threat to both Catholic and Protestant theologians. To be perfectly honest, I have tried to
understand this issue, but have never really figured it out. It is very complicated and esoteric and
seems to be concerned with theological details that I simply donÕt find all
that critical. But this probably
means that I simply havenÕt tried hard enough to understand.
If anybody is interested,
Wikipedia has a pretty good article on Arius and Arianism and the Arian
controversy. I can also hook you
up with more stuff if you want.
Just email me.
I looked up the word sensorium to try to figure out what
Newton meant. It actually is not a
Latin word, but an English word with a Latin root.
Here is an extract from Samuel
JohnsonÕs A Dictionary of the English
Language; 4th ed. (1773)
Sensorium,
Sensory n.s. [Latin]-- 1) The part where the senses transmit
their perceptions to the mind; seat of sense; 2) Organ of sensation
Selected Examples
given by Johnson:
-Bacon: ÒSpiritual species, both visible and
audible, will work upon the sensories, though they move not any other body.Ó
-Newton: ÒAs found in a bell or musical string,
or other sounding body, is nothing but a trembling motion, and the air nothing
but that motion propagated from the object, in the sensorium Ôtis a sense of
that motion under the form of sound.Ó
-Newton from Query
28: ÒIs not the Sensory of Animals that place to which the
sensitive Substance is present, and into which the sensible Species of Things are carried through the
Nerves and Brain, that there they may be perceived by their immediate presence
to that Substance?Ó
Citations to the above readings and additional references for
souped up homework.
Some of this was also in last weekÕs batch of sources.
Andersen, Kirsti, and Henk J. M.
Bos. "Pure Mathematics." In The
Cambridge History of Science: Early Modern Science (1490-1730), ed.
Katharine Park and Lorraine Daston, pp. 696-723. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2006. Andersen-Bos_CambridgeEarlyModCh28PureMath-5.5MB.pdf
Boyer, Carl B. "The History
of the Calculus." The Two-Year
College Mathematics Journal 1, no. 1 (1970): 60-86. Boyer wrote the book on the history of
the calculus, but this is a very condensed essay on the same topic. Boyer_HistoryofCalculus-2.3MB.pdf
Clarke, Leibniz, Newton and
Alexander, The Leibniz-Clarke
Correspondence: Together with Extracts From Newton's Principia and Opticks.
Philosophical Classics (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1956). Your library might have a copy of
these. They are very interesting. Google Books has a portion of this
correspondence: Leibniz-Clarke+Correspondence. Here is a link to extracts from the
letters, leibniz-clarke.html,
but these extractions donÕt set the stage as nicely as the full correspondence.
Disalle, Robert. "Newton's
Philosophical Analysis of Space and Time." In The Cambridge Companion to Newton, ed. I. Bernard Cohen and George
E. Smith, pp. 33-56. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Disalle_CambridgeNewton_Space-time-2.8MB.pdf This article has some thoughts on
NewtonÕs famous ÒbucketÓ argument which you read about in the ÒScholium.Ó
Dobbs, Betty Jo Teeter. The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy : Or,
"The Hunting of the Greene Lyon". Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1975. –You may find this in the library. It is a classic that stirred up a lot
of scholars. Below are a couple of
articles she wrote.
Dobbs_NewtonAlchemyandTheoryMatter-668KB.pdf
– see article for citation information.
Dobbs_Newton_as_Final_Cause-328KB.pdf
– see article for citation information.
Cohen, I. Bernard. The Birth of a New Physics. Revised and
updated ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1985.
Cohen_BirthNewPhysics_NewtonParts-4.1MB.pdf
-This PDF contains the parts on Newton and some ÒSupplementsÓ on Newtonian
issues. These are mostly mathematical physics details. If you are math inclined, you could
probably find in issue or two in this and give it some thought.
Feingold, Mordechai. The Newtonian Moment : Isaac Newton and the
Making of Modern Culture. New York: New York Public Library, 2004. Feingold_NewtonianWomen-3.4MB.pdf This is a chapter about how women were
involved with the Newtonian revolution. There is more of a story there than you
might think.
Fernie, Donald J. "Finding out
the Longitude." American Scientist?,
no.? (2002). Fernie_FindingOuttheLongitude.htm
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Theory of Colours. Cambridge, Mass.,:
M.I.T. Press, 1970. GoetheÕs color
theory (1st ed. 1810): I suggest you read paragraphs 1-20, 47-52,
135, 695-705, 722-728, 758-793 (choose a couple of colors, no need to read
about all of them), 833-847 (read over a few that interest you). I included more in this PDF if you feel
like reading it as well. [ca. 10
pages]: Goethe_Color_Theory-Excerpts_with_pics-4.6MB.pdf
This color theory is about 100 years after Newton, and promotes a much
different theory. Just goes to
show that Newton didnÕt dominate the world as much as it sometimes seems.
Hessen, B. The Social and Economic Roots of Newton's 'Principia'. New York:
Howard Fertig, 1971. Hessen-Marx-and-Newton-3.1MB.pdf There are several essays in this
PDF. This stuff is what they call
ÒwhackÓ these days. You might find
it interesting all the same. These
are Marxist analyses of Newton and SciRev and Industrial Rev. topics. Those with an interest in political
theory may find this interesting even if you donÕt agree with it.
Holton, Gerald James, Stephen G.
Brush, and Gerald James Holton. Physics,
the Human Adventure : From Copernicus to Einstein and Beyond. [3rd ed. New
Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2001. Brush-Holton-Physics-Rotation-Gravity-4.7MB.pdf
– This excerpt contains derivations for centripital acceleration and
other related mathematical ideas as well as some historical context. Brush and Holton are both serious
historians and physicists and their explanations are generally easy to follow.
HookeÕs objections to NewtonÕs
theory (1671/2) [ca. 9 pages.] Hooke_1671-2CritiqueOfNewtonLight-1MB.pdf This PDF is probably from Thomas
SpratÕs The History of the Royal Society
of London, for the Improving of Natural Knowledge. 3d ed. London,: Printed
for S. Chapman, 1722. Ébut I am
not totally sure where it came from.
Kahn, David. "Secrets of
Nature : Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe." In Secrets of Nature : Astrology and Alchemy in
Early Modern Europe, ed. William R. Newman and Anthony Grafton, ?-?? Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press, 2001. Kahn-Newman-Grafton-Rosicrucian_Hoax-9.7MB.pdf
Koestler, Arthur. The Sleepwalkers : A History of Man's
Changing Vision of the Universe. New York: Macmillan, 1959. There is a section on Newton in this
book that you already own.
Mandelbrote, Scott. "Newton and
Eithgeenth-Century Christianity." In The
Cambridge Companion to Newton, ed. I. Bernard Cohen and George E. Smith,
pp. 409-430. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Mandlebrote-CambridgeNewton_Christianity-6.3MB.pdf
Manuel, Frank Edward. A Portrait of Isaac Newton. Da Capo Press
pbk. ed. The Da Capo Series in Science. New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1990.
– You may find this in a library near you. This also got people all riled up.
McGuire, J. E., and P. M.
Rattansi. "Newton and the 'Pipes of Pan'." Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 21, no. 2 (1966):
108-143. McGuire-Rattansi_NewtonPipesOfPan-1MB.pdf
-Included in this article is a short
part on music in relation to Newton's alchemical hobbies.
Newman, William R. "From
Alchemy To "Chymistry"." In The
Cambridge History of Science: Early Modern Science (1490-1730), ed.
Katharine Park and Lorraine Daston, vol. 3, 497-517. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2006. Newman_FromAlchemyToChemCh21-4.5MB.pdf
Newman, William, and Issac
Newton. "Newton's Clavis as Starkey's Key." Isis 78, no. 4 (1987): 564-574. Newman-Newton_Clavis_Starkey_Key-676KB.pdf
Newton, Isaac. "A Letter of
Mr. Isaac Newton, Professor of the Mathematicks in the University of Cambridge;
Containing His New Theory About Light and Colors: Sent by the Author to the
Publisher from Cambridge, Febr. 6. 1671/72; in Order to Be Communicated to the
R. Society." Philosophical
Transactions 6 (1671): pp. 3075-3087. Newton_1671-2NewTheoryOfLightColors-2.4MB.pdf Newton's first significant musings on
light. ItÕs very readable.
Newton, Isaac. Opticks; or, a Treatise of the Reflections,
Refractions, Inflections & Colours of Light. Based on the 4th Ed., London,
1730. New York,: Dover Publications, 1952. (First ed. from 1704.) Newton_OpticksExcerpts-1.7MB.pdf
– 14pp
Park, David Allen. The How and the Why : An Essay on the
Origins and Development of Physical Theory. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1988. This PDF
has a couple of appendices that derive NewtonÕs theorem involving centripital
acceleration, the lunar orbit, KeplerÕs law of areas, and conic
justification. ParkAppendices-756KB.pdf
Rogers, G. A. J. "Locke's
Essay and Newton's Principia." Journal
of the History of Ideas 39, no. 2 (1978): pp. 217-232. Rogers-Lockes_Essay_Newton_Principia-524KB.pdf
Sabra, A. I. Theories of Light: From Descartes to Newton.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Reprint, 1967 first ed. Sabra_Ch5_FermatLeastTime_Theories_of_Light-3.2MB.pdfThis
is chapter 5 on FermatÕs Principle of Least Time, which I think is pretty
awsome philosophical mathematics. Think about what this means, a principle of
least time.
Scott, Wilson L. "The
Significance Of "Hard Bodies" In the History of Scientific
Thought." Isis 50, no. 3 (1959):
199-210. Scott,Wilson-Significance_of_Hardbodies-436MB.pdf This is an excellent article on
Newtonian atomism and conservation theory in the making.
Shapiro, Alan E. "Artists'
Colors and Newton's Colors." Isis
85, no. 4 (1994): 600-630. Shapiro-Artists_Colors_Newtons_Colors.pdf
Shapiro, Alan E. " The
Evolving Structure of Newton's Theory of White Light and Color." Isis 71, no. 2 (1980): 211-235. Shapiro-Evolving_Structure_Newton_White_Light_color-700KB.pdf
Smith, David Eugene. A Source Book in Mathematics. 1st ed.
Source Books in the History of the Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, inc., 1929. Newton-Fluxion-Integration_Smith_Sourcebook-2.5MB.pdf
- This is Newton inventing the calculus.
What this PDF lacks in image quality it makes up in opacity. This is only for the mathematically
courageous. I might go over some
of this in class.
Struik, Dirk Jan. A Source Book in Mathematics, 1200-1800. Source Books in the History of the Sciences. Cambridge,
Mass.,: Harvard University Press, 1969. Struik_ed.-Newton-Gregory_BinomialSeries-1.8MB.pdf
-This
the derivation of the binomial series. This was hugely important to the
development of the calculus. If
you want to give it a shot. Go for
it. Read it over and try to figure
out how it all fits together.
Westfall, Richard S. Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Images on this page are from this book. This is the unedited version of the
book we are reading in class. I
have posted this PDF of Chapter 4 from this book. It is the mathematical chapter and has descriptions of the
first moments of the calculus (differential and integral) and various other
derivations of interest. A walk
through of one of these mathematical monents could make a good souped up essay.
If you want more material like this, I can hook you up. Westfall_Ch4_Never_at_Reft-6.4MB.pdf [See also the Park (above) for similar
material.]
Westfall, Richard S. The Life of Isaac Newton. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1993.
You should own this.
Back to Syllabus [SciRev Fall
2008]
Me – scirevf08@mifami.org
Review Materials:
Newton-Queries-GenSchol-review-144KB.pdf
Posted: 12/6/08 5:06
PM