1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:03,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:13,040 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,799 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm pray Cyvie Wilson. Uh. And 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: today we're gonna talk about somebody and when we say 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: his name, you're gonna go I know about him. I'm 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: imagining having to break out my my doctored up version 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: of our logo that turns it into like stuff you 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,160 Speaker 1: may have possibly missed in history class or somewhere else, 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: but maybe not or it's maybe not about you personally. Yeah. 10 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: But the cool thing is, as I often do, I 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,279 Speaker 1: did one of my informal polls. I even did one 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: just now before we started recording with our sorcerer Noll, 13 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: where when I say, oh, we're going to talk about 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: Sir Issac Newton, and I was like, I know him, 15 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: and I'm like, but what do you know about him? 16 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: And once you get past the apple falling thing, people 17 00:00:55,360 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: get real fuzzy. But it's just physics in general. Yeah, yeah, 18 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,959 Speaker 1: I mean people associate him with the theory of gravity, 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: but his actual life story is way bigger than that. 20 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: It's filled with twists and turns. There's some interesting um 21 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: you know, kind of personality quirks involved. He worked in 22 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: so many different fields and so it seems like a 23 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: good time to sit back and actually talk about the 24 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: life of this famous philosopher, mathematician, physicists, scientists and astronomer. 25 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: And truly that list is sort of a scratching the 26 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: surface situation. We are not going to go super heavy 27 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: on the actual science and math concepts here is that 28 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: probably is the stuff that you were taught in school theoretically, 29 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: but we will hit some of the highlights, mostly just 30 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: to give a sense of just how impactful Newton's work 31 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: was and frankly still is. So to start the place 32 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: we normally start. Isaac Newton was born on January fourth, 33 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: sixteen forty three, in Woolsthorpe, England. You'll often see his 34 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: birthday listed is December two. Neil de crass Tyson famously 35 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: tweeted about that being his birthday. That date is actually 36 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: also correct if you are using the old Julian calendar. 37 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: And Isaac was a premature baby. He was weak and 38 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: very fragile when he was born, and he was not 39 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: expected to live very long. He also never knew his father, 40 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: who he was named for, because the elder Isaac Newton 41 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: died a few months before his son was born. His mother, 42 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: Hannah Askew Newton, was a single parent for the first 43 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: three years of the young boy's life. Yeah, and she 44 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: did have the support of relatives, but in terms of 45 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: direct parenting, she was the one UH and isaih relationship 46 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: with his mother was really quite complicated, particularly in his 47 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: early years, and many historians have pointed out that if 48 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: you read his correspondence, it really suggests that this gave 49 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: him an ongoing issue UH in terms of personality in 50 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: dealing with the world. Because when he was three, Hannah 51 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: left him to live with his grandmother. She had remarried 52 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: to a man named Barnabas Smith, and she moved in 53 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: with Smith and left her child behind. As Isaac reached 54 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: school age, there were arrangements made for him to stay 55 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: with an apothecary and grant them so he could go 56 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: to King's School. There as the apothecary's lodger, Newton got 57 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: his first introduction to chemistry, and mother and child were 58 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: not reunited under one roof for quite some time until 59 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: Hannah's second husband, again that was Burnaby Smith, died nine 60 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: years after she married him, and at this point Isaac 61 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: was twelve and his mother opted to take him out 62 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: of school so that he could become a farmer like 63 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: his father, who had in fact been very successful in agriculture. 64 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: As is often the case when parents pick out a 65 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: child's vocation for them, farming did not actually work out 66 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: very well for Isaac Newton. He was bored to tears 67 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: trying to care for the family's farm, and soon it 68 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: was apparent that if he continued down that vocational path 69 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: he would only meet with failures. So he got to 70 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: go back to school, and once Isaac's basic education was completed, 71 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: his uncle, who was a scholar, stepped in. He wanted 72 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,559 Speaker 1: to persuade Hannah that her son really should go to university. 73 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: Isaac was certainly smart enough, but there was this issue 74 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: of money to contend with. But in sixteen sixty one, 75 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: Isaac Newton did indeed enroll at University of Cambridge's Trinity College, 76 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: but he had to work to earn his place in 77 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: the lecture hall. He cleaned and serviced the rooms of 78 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: other students, and he waited tables, so basically he was 79 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: set up on a program that was not unlike modern 80 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 1: work study programs. He started out with the standard course 81 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: load for any student at Cambridge, but as his time 82 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: at school wore on, he was drawn more and more 83 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: to the cutting edge science that was happening at the time. 84 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: We would call this very basic science today. For the 85 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: most part, the geocentric model of the heavenly bodies, which 86 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 1: placed Earth at the center of all the celestial orbits, 87 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: was still being hot, but the heliocentric model, which had 88 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: been hinted at much earlier in the timeline and other cultures, 89 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: had really been fleshed out and promoted by Nicholas Copernicus, 90 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: Ico Brahey, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo. So while Isaac Newton 91 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: was getting this old school education in his classes and 92 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:21,600 Speaker 1: his spare time outside of all of the various jobs 93 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: that he took on to stay in school, he spent 94 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 1: studying modern philosophy and science, and likely because he was 95 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: burning the candle at both ends and frankly in the middle. Uh, 96 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: Newton didn't really excel at university. He wasn't like a 97 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: star student or anything. He did graduate, but that graduation 98 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: didn't come with any special distinctions. Though. While he was 99 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: working in his self directed extracurricular study, Newton wrote an 100 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: important series of notes entitled Certain Philosophical Questions, and in 101 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: these notes, in this work that he did on his own, 102 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: really was the beginnings of what would later be called 103 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: the scientific Revolution. After his graduation, he continued to study 104 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: with a subsidy, and that was pretty much customary for 105 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: the people who had earned the title of scholar. He 106 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: did this until Cambridge University was forced to close temporarily 107 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: in sixteen sixty five because of the spread of the 108 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: Great Plague. After the university shuddered to wait out the 109 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: plague of London, uh, Newton continued his studies, but he 110 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: was just doing it on his own at home, which 111 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:27,799 Speaker 1: he had already been doing in his off time anyway, 112 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: So presumably he was pretty uh accustomed to this whole 113 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: self directed study thing, and this would actually end up 114 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: being an incredibly important period of time for him and 115 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: in truth for humanity. This is, for example, the period 116 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: when the alleged Apple gravity revelation took place. An interesting 117 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: thing to note here is that while this story in 118 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: an extremely simplified form, is often told as though it's 119 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: literally the first time anyone ever in history thought about 120 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: a force pulling an apple down to Earth. What new 121 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: And was really inspired to think about was the idea 122 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: that the apple and the Earth's moon might both be 123 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: governed by the same force. And there is some debate 124 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,239 Speaker 1: historically as to whether or not this magical apple moment 125 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: ever actually happened, But what we do know is that 126 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: Newton started to think about gravity and how it was 127 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: not only applicable to things here on Earth, but to 128 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: the other things out in the universe. And over the 129 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: course of that year and a half spent in solo education, 130 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: Newton really also so the seeds of a theory of 131 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: color and light uh also a concept for infinitesimal calculus, 132 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,840 Speaker 1: and also a lot of significant astronomy concepts related to 133 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: the movement of the planets which were also related to gravity. 134 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: And these major lines of thinking would form the basis 135 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: of a groundbreaking publication that he would write some years later, 136 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: which we will talk about in just a bit. In 137 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty seven, Cambridge reopened after the plague and Isaac 138 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: were tarns to the formal academic environment. As a minor 139 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: fellow at Trinity College, he got a Master of Arts 140 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 1: degree two years later while he was completing his graduate work, 141 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: Newton wrote a paper entitled Anna Lysi, A Treatise on 142 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: Infinite Series Mathematics. And Newton shared this work with his mentor, 143 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: Isaac Barrow, who in turn showed it to other members 144 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: of the mathematics community. And this really garnered Newton both 145 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: attention and quite a bit of praise. And it was 146 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: not long before Newton took over Barrow's chair at Cambridge 147 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: when the mentor stepped down. And next we're going to 148 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: talk about a small invention that garnered Newton some new attention. 149 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: But first let's pause for a brief word from one 150 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: of our fantastic sponsors. In sixteen sixty eight, Newton built 151 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: a reflecting telescope. It was the first of its kind, 152 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: and he did this as part of his lecture work 153 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,959 Speaker 1: in optics, which gained the attention of the Royal Society. 154 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: He showed the apparatus there in sixteen seventy one. This 155 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: led to the publication of his Notes on Optics in 156 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,959 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy two. This wasn't exactly a slam dunk in 157 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: the world of science, though. While Newton's work had led 158 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: him to believe that white light contained the entire spectrum 159 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: of colors and was composed of particles. But the more 160 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 1: common belief was that waves, rather than particles, made up light, 161 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: and that colors were modified forms of homogeneous white light. 162 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: And additionally, French physicist it may marry Out attempted to 163 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: reproduce Newton's refraction experiment and he just was unable to 164 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: do so. He could not do it. Uh So, Newton's 165 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: papers on this matter were openly criticized, so much so 166 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: that Newton, who frankly never really learned to handle criticism 167 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: very well during his life at all, and I kind 168 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: of identify with him in that regard. Uh He actually 169 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: waited for most of the vehement critics of this particular 170 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: line of thinking to die off before he agreed to 171 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: formally publish his notes on light in the book Optics. 172 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: Like he had published some of these notes in a 173 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: smaller sense, but not in book form, and he just 174 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: waited them out. He waited them out for three decades. 175 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: He just wanted them all to die so that none 176 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: of them could criticize his book when it came out. Well. 177 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: And I think my question is whether these criticisms were 178 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: criticisms or whether they were insults, because those are not 179 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: the same thing, uh, he responded to. It seems in 180 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: reading notes and biographical accounts of him, that he tended 181 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: to respond to challenges to his line of thinking, whether 182 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: it was genuine criticism and questioning or just an old 183 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: school that was unwilling to accept new ideas, in almost 184 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: exactly the same way. He just got really, really angry 185 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,599 Speaker 1: and a little bit petulant about it. Yeah, don't do that, dude. 186 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: Constructive criticism is how we learn and get better. I 187 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: say that, which sounds kind of sanctimonious because we're talking 188 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: about Isaac Newton. He learned a lot of things. Yeah. 189 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: Can you imagine what would have happened had he had 190 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: he been had he figured out a way to work 191 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: with criticism. So to continue on this subject of criticism, 192 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: one of the most prominent and vocal critics of Isaac 193 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: Newton's optics work was Robert Hook. The two men locked 194 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,559 Speaker 1: intellectual horns for years. As a result, Newton threatened to 195 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: quit the Royal Society over the rift, although other members 196 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: convinced him to stay. As the correspondence between the two 197 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 1: of them raged on and on and finally reached a 198 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: crescendo in sixty eight Newton actually had a nervous breakdown 199 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: and stopped communicating with his rival altogether. Yeah. Again, he 200 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: just struggled. This was something he never really got the 201 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: hang of, was was being able to deal with people 202 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: that wanted to challenge his work. Uh. And not long 203 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: after this breakdown, Isaac's mother, Hannah died, and as you'll recall, 204 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: that was a very weird and conflicted relationship and it 205 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: really really affected him deeply. So that loss, on top 206 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: of his already fragile mental state, led to a six 207 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: year withdrawal from colleagues and most social interaction. So friends 208 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: and associates, of course tried to reach out to him, 209 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: and they would get replies, but they would be very brief, 210 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: and instead, Isaac Newton chose to continue his own intellectual 211 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: pursuits during this time, working kind of siloed off on 212 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: his own, and he specifically focused on the areas of 213 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: planetary orbits and the way that they're influenced by gravity. 214 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: Very slowly, Newton began to correspond regularly on the topic 215 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,959 Speaker 1: with none other than his former rival Robert Hook. That 216 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: two of them exchanged ideas, and Hook helped him work 217 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: through concepts that would lead to formulas for calculating gravity's 218 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: effect on planetary orbit. But again, although there was no 219 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: argument this time or any kind of breakdown, Newton just 220 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: abruptly stopped talking to him about it. So as easy 221 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: years of working alone and occasionally only corresponding a little 222 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 1: here and there were drawing to a close, and Isaac 223 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,079 Speaker 1: Newton began to once again become a little more sociable. 224 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: Both he and Robert Hook spoke with Edmund Halley separately 225 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: though about planetary orbits, and Halle actually first spoke with Hook, 226 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: and then later he consulted with Newton about the shape 227 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: of orbits based on the formula theory that Hook had 228 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: described to him, and after hearing uh Isaac Newton talked 229 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: about it, Halle was convinced that Newton really was onto 230 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: something regarding his idea of elliptical orbits, and at this 231 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: point Halle became a benefactor to Newton. He basically took 232 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: care of his living expenses so that the mathematics of 233 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,319 Speaker 1: orbital paths could be the exclusive focus of Newton's time. 234 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 1: In six seven, Newton published his work Prince Shipia, which 235 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: is more formally known as Mathematical Principles of Natural philosophy. 236 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: This was the result of a year and a half 237 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: of work and it was really groundbreaking. It's been five 238 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: It as the most influential of all physics books, establishing 239 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: basically all the basic concepts still used in physics today, 240 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: with the exception of energy. So if you remember your 241 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: high school physics, you probably can recall Newton's laws of motion, 242 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: which were part of Principia in the context of explaining 243 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: the movement of celestial bodies. And I know we wouldn't 244 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: talk a lot about the actual science and math, but 245 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 1: we'll just go over them because in case you don't 246 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: recognize of my name, you will once we start saying them. 247 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: One is that a stationary body will stay stationary unless 248 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: an external force is applied to it. Two is it 249 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: forces equal to mass times acceleration, and a change in 250 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: motion is proportional to the force applied. And three is 251 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 252 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: So these are things we still talk about all the time. 253 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: And this was in Newton's work Principia. Yes, it is 254 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: like the basic basics of physics or just physical science class. Yeah, 255 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: So this book was and still is hugely influential and 256 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: that really just can't be overstated. It's not just about 257 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: what we learned in elementary, middle and high school and 258 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: science classes. Uh. If you wonder how on Earth astrophysicists 259 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: are able to calculate the masses of planets that are 260 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: billions of miles away, it's because of these principles that 261 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: were established in the seven publication. If you've ever wondered 262 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,359 Speaker 1: how we figured out that tides are governed by gravity, 263 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: that is in there too, So are numerous other concepts 264 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: that are mind blowing to consider today. But Newton had 265 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: worked out the concepts back in the seventeenth century, but 266 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: again and again, tied to Robert Hook, Newton's work drew 267 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: some controversy, so Hook became very public about claiming that 268 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: Newton had in fact been copying his work and basically 269 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: stole it by not crediting him, and this instantly re 270 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: established the rivalry between them, and it was instantly just 271 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: as intense as it ever was. And in a similar 272 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: move as he had made in the previous round of 273 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: vehement bickering, Newton's threatened to basically take his ball and 274 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: bat and go home and stop working on the second 275 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: edition of principia and not play with any of the 276 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: scientific community anymore. Edmund Halley, of course, had spoken with 277 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: both of the men about planetary orbits before becoming Newton's 278 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: financial backer, so he knew that Newton's work on this 279 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: book was legitimately his own work. However, Halle also wanted 280 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: to find a way to make peace in the community, 281 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: so he eventually convinced Newton to insert a note in 282 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: the second edition giving credit to Hook for the concepts 283 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: that he shared in the development of the mathematics involved. Yeah, 284 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: it was basically thanking him for that correspondence back and 285 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: forth when Newton was kind of working primarily on his own, 286 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: but they were talking a little bit about gravity and 287 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: planetary orbits together, so you would think that would like 288 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: smooth things over. But in fact, from this point on, 289 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: Hook's life really took a downturn. He was not satisfied 290 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:04,160 Speaker 1: by Newton's acknowledgement, and he became increasingly and openly bitter 291 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: about Newton's success, and as a consequence, the pair never 292 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 1: repaired their relationship after that. For Newton, the publication of 293 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,600 Speaker 1: Princeship Head brought him to an entirely new level of fame, 294 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: it really expanded his professional and social circles quite significantly. 295 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about the new spheres and 296 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: causes that Isaac Newton found himself in as a consequence 297 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: of his growing renown in just a moment. But first, 298 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: let's pause and thank one of our great sponsors. So 299 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: King James the Second, who ascended to the throne of 300 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: England in six eight five for a relatively brief reign, 301 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: created a major religious upheaval in the Anglican country as 302 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: he attempted to promote Catholicism. So he advocated for religious 303 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: freedom for Catholics, but he thought that they should continue 304 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: the persecution of Presbyterian covenanters. Uh. Those are the very 305 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: broad strokes of the religious situation. But the reason that 306 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: King James the Second features into Newton's life story is 307 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,679 Speaker 1: that the monarch wanted to make universities into Catholic institutions. 308 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: Isaac Newton firmly opposed this move, and as a very 309 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: vocal challenger to the idea, he was elected as Cambridge's 310 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 1: representative in Parliament in sixteen eighty nine. Newton, it should 311 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: be noted, was not irreligious. Over the course of his life. 312 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: He did think and write a great deal about God. 313 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: He felt strongly that understanding Judeo Christian prophecy and mysticism 314 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: was vital to understanding God. He wrote at one point 315 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: that he felt that Christianity had kind of gotten off 316 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: track in the fourth century, with incorrect doctrines regarding the 317 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,640 Speaker 1: nature of Christ being promoted by the Council of Nicia. 318 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 1: And while this wasn't an announcement of religion, it was 319 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: a very unorthodox view. So he was religious. He did 320 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: believe in God, but he had a very unusual stance 321 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: on the whole thing. Newton's influence continued to expand, so 322 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: much so that educational reformers who wished to move away 323 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,959 Speaker 1: from teaching Aristotelian ideology looked to him as their public 324 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,919 Speaker 1: proponent for more modern curricula. They wanted to teach the 325 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: concepts of the physical world that were represented in Newton's writings. Yeah, 326 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: he basically promoted that for his entire life. And while 327 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: he was at the height of his success, however, uh, 328 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 1: you know, all of this was going great. He really 329 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: had a lot of respect. He was a recognized leader 330 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: in science. Isaac Newton had another nervous breakdown and this 331 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:36,400 Speaker 1: was in sixtee and this one was marked by him 332 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: writing letters to friends and colleagues that were extremely paranoid. 333 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 1: They were really accusatory missives in a lot of ways, 334 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: you know, thinking that people were out to get him, 335 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: and in general the tone of all of his correspondence 336 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: just seemed entirely out of sorts. So his earlier breakdown 337 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 1: was pretty clearly caused by ongoing hostilities with Robert Hook. 338 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: The reasons for this one we're a little more nebulous. 339 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: He was exhausted from his work, he had a falling 340 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: out with one of his close friends. He was disappointed 341 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: in his status with King William the Third. He may 342 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 1: have even been dealing with mercury poisoning from years of 343 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: work in a lab. But unlike the breakdown that Newton 344 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,920 Speaker 1: experienced in sixteen seventy eight, he seemed to quickly recover 345 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: from this one in just a matter of months, so 346 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: a far cry from the six years of seclusion that 347 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: he had receded into the first time he had a 348 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 1: mental break And this time he kind of came around. 349 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,680 Speaker 1: As we said, he apologized to his friends in writing, 350 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: and he went right back to work as though it 351 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: had never happened, although at this point his interests had 352 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: suddenly largely shifted away from science and instead this is 353 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 1: really a time when he was intent on ruminating on 354 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: alchemy and philosophy and considering the metaphysical. This is really 355 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: when he wrote a lot about the religion that we 356 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,720 Speaker 1: mentioned just a few moments ago. Once that episode behind him, 357 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,959 Speaker 1: Isaac Newton's life once again got a lot brighter. He 358 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 1: had long wanted to be appointed to a government position, 359 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: and not getting one from King William the Third was 360 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: one of the things that had strained his relationship with 361 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: the monarch. But finally, in sixteen ninety six, he was 362 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: made Warden of the Mints, and this marked the end 363 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: of his time lecturing at Cambridge. So this may seem 364 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: like sort of a random position to put a renowned 365 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: scientist into, but here is how Newton finally won his 366 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: much coveted government job. His niece, Catherine Barton, was Lord 367 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: Halifax's mistress at the time, and it was Halifax who 368 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,160 Speaker 1: used his influence to secure the position for his paramour's uncle. 369 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: To his credit, though Isaac Newton didn't just sit back 370 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: and collect this government income. He took his job as 371 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,399 Speaker 1: the Master of the mint extremely seriously, and this happened 372 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: to be an interesting time in England in terms of currency. Yeah. So, 373 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: to set it up, in the late sixteen hundreds, English 374 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: coins were still being minted in silver. The value of 375 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: the material that was used to make the coins was 376 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: actually worth more than the currency itself, and this led 377 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: to a number of illicit activities. So initially the problem 378 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: was that coins were sometimes being clipped or shaved around 379 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: their edges so that they were still recognized as legal tender, 380 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 1: but the person doing the clipping could then amass all 381 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: of these clippings and shavings so that the silver could 382 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,199 Speaker 1: be melted down for other uses and sold. Eventually, the 383 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: minting process was updated to make coins with milled edges 384 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: that would deter clipping and shaving practices. But what this 385 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: ended up doing was fostering a huge counterfeit and money 386 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,360 Speaker 1: market in England. Would be crooks would try to fill 387 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: the gap in their incomes that they had been making 388 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:49,919 Speaker 1: through clipping by counterfeiting instead. Yeah, they would basically cast 389 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: a mold from an actual coin, and then they would 390 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:58,439 Speaker 1: just start issuing their own basically with cheaper materials and 391 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 1: counterfeiting coins at this point was considered treason, so it 392 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: was classified as a high crime. And by Newton's reckoning, 393 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: a full twenty of the coins in England when he 394 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: took his job as Master of the Mint were in 395 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: fact counterfeits, so that's one fifth of the circulating currency 396 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: that was not real, and he made it his mission 397 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: to find as many counterfeiters as he could. Newton was 398 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,440 Speaker 1: not the least bit wary of venturing into very unsavory 399 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: areas and establishments. While he carried out this work, he 400 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: became kind of an expert investigator, and he applied his 401 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 1: rigorous scientific examination skills to his criminal investigations. He even 402 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,959 Speaker 1: went so far as to become credential in law so 403 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: that he could perform cross examinations on suspects during their trials, 404 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: and over the course of several years, Newton was able 405 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,920 Speaker 1: to successfully prosecute twenty counterfeiters. He had taken in many more, 406 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: but those are the ones that were found guilty, and 407 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: all of them were put to death for their crimes 408 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: in The French Academy of Sciences named him one of 409 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: eight foreign Associates. When seventeen o three he became President 410 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,920 Speaker 1: of the Royal Society. In seventeen o five he was knighted, 411 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: So you would think at some point in this esteemed 412 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,680 Speaker 1: career he might be free of drama. That that would 413 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: be wrong. The same year that he was knighted got freed. Leibniz, 414 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,640 Speaker 1: who was a German mathematician, asserted that he had developed 415 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:26,440 Speaker 1: the ideas of infinitesmal calculus years before Newton had published 416 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,400 Speaker 1: his own works on the subject. Yeah, I didn't ever 417 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: find I'm sure it's out there somewhere, it just didn't 418 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: turn up in my work on this particular project. Why 419 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: he waited so long because this is quite a ways 420 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: after Newton was publishing these ideas, So we don't know 421 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: why Leibniz waited so long to say that it was 422 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:50,880 Speaker 1: his work. But these accusations persisted for years until finally 423 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,400 Speaker 1: in seventeen twelve. So remember it was seventeen o five 424 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: when this whole business started, so this dragged on for 425 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: seven years. Uh, this matter was finally investigated by the 426 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: Royal Society and Newton was found to be the original 427 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: mathematician to work on these concepts. Though we should point 428 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: out that he did have a decidedly unfair advantage in 429 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 1: the proceedings as he had as Royal Society President selected 430 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: the investigation committee members. I was sort of startled throughout 431 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,679 Speaker 1: this at how cut through the mathematics and science world was, 432 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: at least as it swirled around Isaac Newton. This was 433 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: actually not the only intellectual skirmish that he had while 434 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: he was the Royal Society President. In fact, he had 435 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: a really negative reputation in that role. There were even 436 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,359 Speaker 1: people who called him a tyrant. He published the notes 437 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 1: of astronomer Astronomer John Flamsteed without that man's permission, after 438 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: Flamsteed didn't provide him with the notes he wanted for 439 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: an update to the Principia as quickly as he wanted them. Yeah, 440 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: it is kind of another case of like a footstompy 441 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,360 Speaker 1: kind of reaction. And we should point out that John 442 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: Flamsteed had gathered an unreal amount of data. Newton's demands 443 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 1: for specific notes we're probably a little bit unreasonable. That 444 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: would be like somebody going, hey, run to the library 445 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 1: and get me these three things in a library that's 446 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: massive and that they, you know, are still sorting out. 447 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,720 Speaker 1: So it was kind of a a little bit of 448 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:26,119 Speaker 1: an unreasonable demand Flamsteed eventually sought out and won a 449 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: court order demanding that Newton ceased the permission list publication 450 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: of his work. This is one of the few times 451 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,440 Speaker 1: that in all of these skirmishes that Newton got into 452 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: with other people that he actually kind of came out 453 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: on the losing end. And his eighties, Newton started experiencing 454 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: poor health, specifically digestive problems, and this took its hole 455 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 1: on his overall well being. On March seventy seven, he 456 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: got a really severe pain in his abdomen and he 457 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 1: blacked out shortly thereafter. He remained unconscious until he died 458 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,200 Speaker 1: the next day at the age of eighty four. He 459 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: held the position of Master of the Mint until he 460 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,439 Speaker 1: the day that he died. He was also still the 461 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 1: President of the Royal Society, having been re elected every 462 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: year in spite of sentiments that he was sometimes abusing 463 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: his power in that position, and he was buried in 464 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: Westminster Abbey in a very lavish ceremony. While he was 465 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: lauded as a genius both before and after his death 466 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: and even still today, the sad truth is that Isaac 467 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: Newton was likely very lonely. He never married. He didn't 468 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,400 Speaker 1: have many close friends. He seemed to have some issues 469 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: of insecurity, possibly tied to the absence of parents in 470 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: his life as a child. Because he was mired in 471 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 1: so many plagiarism battles, he never really became comfortable with 472 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: the idea of collaborating with his colleagues, so he missed 473 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: out on opportunities to forge forge relationships with his peers 474 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:55,200 Speaker 1: in the math and science community. But of course it's 475 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,399 Speaker 1: pretty undeniable that he changed the course of science and 476 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,880 Speaker 1: human history in fact with his work. In December, an 477 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: original copy of his Principia, which had been presented to 478 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: King James the Second, went up for auction with a 479 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: value range of four hundred thousand to six hundred thousand dollars. 480 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 1: When the bidding was over, the book sold for three 481 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: of its estimate, at two point five million dollars. Yeah, 482 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: that's one of those very rare and coveted items, both 483 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,159 Speaker 1: within sort of a book collector's community and in the 484 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: scientific community. I did not look up or no, if 485 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,919 Speaker 1: it's even available who made that purchase. But uh so, 486 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: that is the life and times a ster Isaac Newton. 487 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 1: I think it's it's more interesting and a little bit 488 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: more dramatic than people may suspect if they only know 489 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: the happy version of the apple in the tree gravity moments, right, uh, 490 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: and the scientific genius moment. Yeah. I mean he was 491 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 1: undoubtedly a genius, but very complicated man. Fascinating and how 492 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,479 Speaker 1: he would become obsessed withvarious things at various points in 493 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: his life. Um. I like the part where he was 494 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 1: hunting down counterfeiters. How could you not? I mean, that's 495 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: a fascinating tale. So now we have two bits of 496 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: listener mail. They're related to the same thing. Um, And 497 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: do you want me to read one and you read 498 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: one and then we'll discuss That sounds great because it 499 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: is an important topic. Um. It's related to our discussion 500 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 1: in the History Mystery double feature podcast, particularly the one 501 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: where we talked about hinter Kfik. And the first one 502 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: that we received was from our listener Katie. She said, Hi, 503 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 1: I hate to send a correction, and I'm sure it's 504 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: been said already, but in your most recent episode, you 505 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: discussed incest in a way that unintentionally blames victims of 506 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: parental child incest. You referred to it as a quote 507 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: affair between the father and daughter, and this implies that 508 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:52,560 Speaker 1: there was consent and even desire on the part of 509 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 1: the daughter. Even in instances where the daughter would claim consent, 510 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: there is an unfair power dynamic at play similar to 511 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: the reas and the statutory rape is illegal. This dynamic 512 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,480 Speaker 1: makes it impossible for the victim to have full autonomy 513 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: in the interaction. I feel like you guys are such 514 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: advocates for women that you might want to be aware 515 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: of how phrasing of these topics can unintentionally victim blame. 516 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: I love your podcast and sent you another email within 517 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: the last week being a total goober fangirl about it. 518 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for reading. Thank you so much 519 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: for that email, Katie, and then I will hand it 520 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: to Tracy for the other one. This one is from David, 521 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: and David says, Hello, Holly and Tracy. I've long enjoyed 522 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,040 Speaker 1: the podcast and have recently gotten back to listening to 523 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: it after a hiatus. I appreciate the reporting, the depth 524 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: of research, and the adenda provided by listeners during the 525 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: listener mail segment, and I also love your occasional interviews 526 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: with historians. On rare occasions, hosts over the years have 527 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: mangled the pronunciations of some foreign words. We all chalk 528 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: that up to our different educational backgrounds. But in the 529 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: hinter k f podcast, I was shocked to hear one 530 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: of you make an insensitive comment regarding incest. Tracy said 531 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: that the hinter k Fi murders reminded her of a 532 00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 1: more recent mass murder, and went on to say that 533 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: the daughter in that case may, as with hinter Kfek, 534 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: have been quote having an affair with the daughter. I 535 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 1: take issue with that phrase. Most of us would agree 536 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: that incestuous quote affairs can occur between consenting adults, like 537 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: the siblings on Game of Thrones, but a father does 538 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 1: not have an incestuous quote affair with his young daughter 539 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: that is, in fact rape. I was especially surprised to 540 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,560 Speaker 1: hear this coming from a young female podcaster. I'd love 541 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: it if you would make a quick correction in an 542 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: upcoming listener male portion of the show, and at the 543 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: very least, please be more sensitive to such issues in 544 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: the future. They will certainly come up again at some 545 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: point if history teaches us anything. Sincerely, David, it was 546 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: me who said that I'd want to clarify first of all, 547 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:45,480 Speaker 1: or you have you like like you want to say 548 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: a thing. Oh no, I think I may have said 549 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: the one that Katie mentioned earlier when I was talking 550 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: about the groupers at hinter Kafik, And then there was 551 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: a second one that came up when you mentioned a 552 00:31:55,600 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: likened scenario. Right, So we we both misspoke. Well we 553 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 1: both misspoke, But I also do want to make it 554 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: very clear that your your research on this. The woman 555 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: you were talking about was thirty five years old, and 556 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: I was speaking extemporaneously about a case that I learned 557 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: about when I was fifteen, which was twenty five years ago. 558 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: In my memory, the daughter in that case was also 559 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: an adult. Um. I actually looked up after getting David's note, 560 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,280 Speaker 1: and I was expecting to find that she was in 561 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: her mid twenties when that murder happened. She actually was not. 562 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: She was younger than that, which I had completely remembered Wrongly. 563 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: That's definitely not language I would use when talking about 564 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: a father and a child. But like in my memory, 565 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 1: this was a father and an adult, which is still 566 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,640 Speaker 1: definitely taboo. There is still definitely a train of thought 567 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: that no person can ever consent to sexual activity with 568 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: a parent because of the power dynamic. I don't. I 569 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: don't think that's a you of burstell idea, but it 570 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,360 Speaker 1: is definitely one that exists. But yeah, I absolutely would 571 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:08,880 Speaker 1: not have framed it that way if I had remembered 572 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 1: correctly that the daughter in that case was only seventeen. 573 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 1: I remembered her as being a grown up. Uh, probably 574 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: because she was older than I was when I read 575 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 1: the book about that murder when I was fifteen, Right, 576 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,400 Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean, I apologize for having dismayed anyone 577 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 1: or or victim. Believe that certainly would not be either 578 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: of our intense. There was definitely some stuff that I found, 579 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: and you may recall if you listen to that podcast 580 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: that I mentioned at the end that some of the 581 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: stuff I was looking at was online but was Bavarian 582 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: legal records, and one of them was, but I couldn't 583 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: verify that it was legitimate, which is why I did 584 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: not bring it up on the podcast, but it completely 585 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: seated in my brain. Um, there was one that claimed 586 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: that in fact, Victoria and her father had been charged 587 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,840 Speaker 1: with incest and it went through an actual like trial 588 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 1: situation and they were both found guilty. So I think 589 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:09,440 Speaker 1: in my head that automatically gave her a level of 590 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 1: I don't want to say blame, That's not what I'm saying, 591 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,719 Speaker 1: but uh more of an equal footing because they both 592 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:17,840 Speaker 1: were found guilty in the same way, even though that 593 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: may not have been the actual situation. I think my 594 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:25,879 Speaker 1: brain just went and moved on. I didn't want to Um. Yeah, 595 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:27,879 Speaker 1: I certainly would not, and I recognize that even if 596 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,919 Speaker 1: you were a thirty five year old woman, you still 597 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 1: are not probably equal in the power dynamic to your father, 598 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,840 Speaker 1: and especially when there is this overlay of sexuality to 599 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:40,480 Speaker 1: the whole thing. It's a very complicated issue. So again 600 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: well created by the fact that the period of time 601 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:48,439 Speaker 1: when we were talking about, as a general rule, all 602 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,920 Speaker 1: women were in a subordinate power position to to all men. 603 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:55,360 Speaker 1: I mean all is probably too strong a word, but 604 00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: overwhelmingly like women in general not have the same lafe 605 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,919 Speaker 1: level of agency that women do today. And so the 606 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: way we talk about consent a hundred years ago has 607 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,480 Speaker 1: to be different in some ways because sort of the 608 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:16,680 Speaker 1: base level of of agency involved in being able to 609 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 1: make consent was much different than it is now. So yeah, 610 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:24,960 Speaker 1: neither of us intended to to make light of um 611 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 1: of incest, especially when it involves children or to the 612 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 1: victim blame. Um, I genuinely thought I was talking about 613 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,400 Speaker 1: a grown up. Yeah, So thank you so much. Katie 614 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: and David. You are the only two that we heard 615 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,960 Speaker 1: from on the subject. But you both presented it so 616 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 1: smartly and intelligently and kindly. It was not uh screaming 617 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,880 Speaker 1: at all. So even if it were screaming, I mean, 618 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:49,399 Speaker 1: I feel like that's the thing that is worth being 619 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:54,719 Speaker 1: screaming about. Uh. And based on past experience, I am 620 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,560 Speaker 1: sure that in the window of time between us recording 621 00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:59,880 Speaker 1: this today and the episode coming out, we will probably 622 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,359 Speaker 1: ten or fifteen more emails about it, because that's sort 623 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 1: of how it how it goes. But yeah, yeah, I 624 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: apologize for having been insensitive. Likewise, I do as well. 625 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:14,399 Speaker 1: Apologies all around. Um. Back to lighter notes, though, If 626 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:16,720 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can do that. 627 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 1: We're at History Podcast at how stuff Works dot com. 628 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,479 Speaker 1: You can also find us at Facebook dot com, slash 629 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 1: missed in History, on Twitter at mist in History, at 630 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,520 Speaker 1: pinterest dot com, slash missed in History at missed in 631 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,239 Speaker 1: History dot tumbler dot com, and on Instagram at mist 632 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,080 Speaker 1: in history. If you would like to learn a little 633 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: bit more about what we talked about today. Go to 634 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,920 Speaker 1: our parents site, how stuff Works. Type in Isaac Newton's 635 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:38,440 Speaker 1: name into the search bar and you will get an 636 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,839 Speaker 1: article called how Isaac Newton Works. You will also get 637 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:44,120 Speaker 1: an article questioning whether or not the Apple situation was real. 638 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,480 Speaker 1: You can also visit us online at missed in history 639 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,479 Speaker 1: dot com, where you'll find all of our episodes all 640 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: the way back to when the podcast began and they 641 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: were only three minutes long to present day. You'll find 642 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,359 Speaker 1: show notes on all of the episodes Tracy and I 643 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 1: have worked on, and you will occasionally get some other 644 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,120 Speaker 1: goodies here and there. So we encourage you to come 645 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: and visit us at Miston history dot com and how 646 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:12,840 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com for more on this and thousands 647 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:27,560 Speaker 1: of other topics. Because it how stuff works dot com. 648 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:18,360 Speaker 1: M