Newton for Ladies (1737) – Newtonianism vs. Cartesianism

Newton for Ladies (1737) – Newtonianism vs. Cartesianism(whipplelib.hps.cam.ac.uk)

20 points by bgilroy26 244 days ago | 13 comments

HPsquared 242 days ago |

Full text (I assume this is out of copyright!)

https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_newtonian...

ogogmad 242 days ago | |

404. In the UK, mind you.

[Edit] Wow, it's actually blocked in the UK for people who don't prove that they're over 18.

HPsquared 242 days ago | | |

That's strange. I'm reading it here, in the UK, with no cookies.

srean 242 days ago |

Cartesianism may be highly injurious to the ladies' dog.

Quip aside, the history of science of that period just overwhelms me. What a time ! Galileo, DesCartes, Barrow, Leibnitz, Huygens, Newton, Halley, Hooke.

geye1234 241 days ago | |

I recommend "The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science" by E.A. Burtt if you're interested in that period. It discusses both the science, and the different philosophies of physics that were informing and perhaps influencing them. The book is a hundred years old but very readable.

srean 241 days ago | | |

Thanks for the reference.

OJFord 241 days ago | |

Progress today seems typically more industrial, but I'm sure you could likewise look back in the future and say Good heavens! Musk, Bezos, Altman, Jobs, Ive, Knuth (or extend the period for Turing, von Neumann, Brooks bros.)!

The 'Great Man' fallacy no doubt applies as well to Galileo et al. as it would more obviously be someone's objection to my contemporary list.

amelius 241 days ago | | |

You named some people who don't belong in the same sentence.

AfterHIA 241 days ago | | |

If you compare our predecessor Turing to people like Musk or Bezos ever again I'll have you chemically castrated.

srean 241 days ago | | |

Turing, Shannon, Neumann definitely but Musk et al ? really ?

I consider their contribution to the body of human knowledge or humanity to be of quite dubious merit. Very smart and successful businessman for sure, very good at enriching themselves, but that's about it. At best they can be compared to Rockefeller, Edison, that too at best.

On the other hand one can argue that a lot of our material welfare (as a product of science and engineering) is a direct consequence of Newton's accomplishments. Of course he did not start the fire all by himself.