Sir Isaac Newton Time life magizines "Greatest scientific thinker of our time"

[franca]

Sir Isaac Newton's work represents some of the greatest contributions to science ever made by an individual. Most notably, Newton derived the Law of Universal Gravitation, invented the branch of mathematics called Calculus, and performed experiments investigating the nature of light and color. He also was scholar of the Bible and devoted much time to its study.

Sir Isaac had an accomplished artisan fashion for him a small scale model of our solar system which was to be put in a room in Newton's home when completed. The assignment was finished and installed on a large table. The workman had done a very commendable job, simulating not only the various sizes of the planets and their relative proximities, but also so constructing the model that everything rotated and orbited when a crank was turned. It was an interesting, even fascinating work, as you can image, particularly to anyone schooled in the sciences.

A scientist friend of Newton's came by for a visit. Seeing the model, he was naturally intrigued, and proceeded to examine it with undisguised admiration for the high quality of the workmanship.

"Oh My! What an exquisite thing this is!" Newton's friend exclaimed. "Who made it?"

Paying little attention to him, Sir Isaac answered, "Nobody."

Stopping his inspection, the visitor turned and said, "Oh? Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this?"

Newton, enjoying himself immensely no doubt, replied in a still more serious tone, "Nobody. What you see just happened to assume the form it now has."

"You must think I am a fool!" the visitor retorted heatedly, "Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius, and I would like to know who he is."

Newton then spoke to his friend in a polite yet firm way: "This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker; yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?

adapted from Sir Isaac Newton Solar System Story (from the book: The Truth: God or evolution?, by Marshall and Sandra Hall, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI)

[Kayenneh]

Ah, but here's the problem. We humans love our consistency, we use materials we can manipulate, we use a certain set of geometry and we are limited by the tools we use. Now, I think it's highly arrogant that just because we like to 'create' things, that we assume that if there is such thing as a god (or many gods) that they use the same methods as us. To be certain, there is a lot of pi, golden ratio, fractals etc etc occurring in nature, but did anyone ever think that this is because the atoms and molecules just behave so..?

[Minimalist]

He also was scholar of the Bible and devoted much time to its study.

Think what he may have accomplished if he hadn't wasted so much of his time on bullshit.

[Whateverist]

What?! Great minds can sometimes get it wrong? Yes. So what else is new?

[Welsh cake]

Sir Isaac Newton's work represents some of the greatest contributions to science ever made by an individual.

Debatable, in his time. In our time? Certainly not.

Most notably, Newton derived the Law of Universal Gravitation,

I would argue he plagiarised it from Robert Hooke.

invented the branch of mathematics called Calculus,

Yeah because historically speaking Gottfried Leibniz contributed nothing to the field did he?

and performed experiments investigating the nature of light and color.

Which he arguably heavily borrowed from Leone Battista Alberti's work and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci also.

He also was scholar of the Bible and devoted much time to its study.

Couldn't care less. That has nothing to do with science.

Sir Isaac had an accomplished artisan fashion for him a small scale model of our solar system which was to be put in a room in Newton's home when completed.

This doesn't put him on equal footing with Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus, or anyone else involved the Heliocentrism movement.

I made a model of our solar system once. So what?

The assignment was finished and installed on a large table. The workman had done a very commendable job, simulating not only the various sizes of the planets and their relative proximities, but also so constructing the model that everything rotated and orbited when a crank was turned. It was an interesting, even fascinating work, as you can image, particularly to anyone schooled in the sciences.

A scientist friend of Newton's came by for a visit. Seeing the model, he was naturally intrigued, and proceeded to examine it with undisguised admiration for the high quality of the workmanship.

"Oh My! What an exquisite thing this is!" Newton's friend exclaimed. "Who made it?"

Paying little attention to him, Sir Isaac answered, "Nobody."

Stopping his inspection, the visitor turned and said, "Oh? Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this?"

Newton, enjoying himself immensely no doubt, replied in a still more serious tone, "Nobody. What you see just happened to assume the form it now has."

"You must think I am a fool!" the visitor retorted heatedly, "Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius, and I would like to know who he is."

Newton then spoke to his friend in a polite yet firm way: "This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker; yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?

adapted from Sir Isaac Newton Solar System Story (from the book: The Truth: God or evolution?, by Marshall and Sandra Hall, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI)

So what?

Dutch clockmaker Steven Tracy made the world's oldest known dynamic heliocentric model of our solar system "The Leiden Sphaera" around 1670.

So what?

[DeistPaladin]

Sir Issac also believed in alchemy and Biblical prophecy. He also rejected the idea of a divine Jesus, insisting that conventional Trinitarian Christianity was blasphemy.

That's how science works. Your good ideas and contributions stand on their own merit. Your bad ideas get discarded. Scientists are respected and remembered for their good ideas, with their bad ideas simply forgotten, as is the case with Issac Newton.

Sir Issac Newton was also a nasty human being but that has nothing to do with his contribution to science.

Appeal to authority means nothing in science. Rightly so, since it is a fallacy.

[Cyberman]

Looks like an embryo Mabus. Perhaps he's breeding?