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Alexander Pope, Astronomy, calculus, Gravity, history, Isaac Newton, Laws of Gravity, mathematics, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Optics, physics, Planetary Motion, science, scientists, Smartest Person Ever, Time Magazine
If you could meet and talk with any scientist who had ever lived, who would it be, and why?
“Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton. No question about it: Isaac Newton. The smartest person ever — ever to walk the face of this earth. You read his writings, the man was connected to the universe in spooky ways. The most successful scientists in the history of the world are those who pose the right questions… Newton, his questions reached into the soul of the universe, and he pulled out insights and wisdom that transformed our understanding of our place in the cosmos.
Someone said to him, ‘Isaac, why is it that planets orbit in these shapes you call ellipses, rather than circles? Why that shape?’ Newton said, ‘You know, I’ll get back to you on that.’ He goes away for a few months, comes back, and says, ‘Here’s the answer. Here’s why gravity produces ellipses for orbits.’
His friend asks, ‘Well how’d you figure that out?’
He says, ‘Well I had to invent this new kind of mathematics to do it.’ He invented calculus. Most of us sweat through it — for multiple years in school — just to learn it. He invented it practically on a dare.
He discovered the laws of motion. The laws of gravity. The laws of optics. Then he turned twenty-six.”
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Neil deGrasse Tyson’s response to the question, “If you could meet and talk with any scientist who had ever lived, who would it be, and why?”
Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night;
God said Let Newton be! and all was light.
– Alexander Pope’s intended epitaph for Newton’s tomb in Westminster Abbey.
Pick up the James Gaelic’s much praised biography Isaac Newton, then watch the Time Magazine interview below:
Catherine McCallum said:
I love this! And through this post I’ve discovered a new hero, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Thank you.
jrbenjamin said:
Glad you liked it — yeah, NdT is pretty cool, has a lot of good interviews and talks online.
Thanks for commenting.
Christal said:
Thank you so much for posting this! Never saw this interview before. I like the way that Neil deGrasse Tyson says Newton was connected to the universe in spooky ways. Some historians have linked Newton’s motivation for science to his devotion to religion, which even made him tap into alchemy.
If I could talk to any scientist who have ever lived I would talk to Gregor Mendel because he found the patterns for genetics and inheritance through careful observation of traits, and was not recognized for his great accomplishments until after his death.
tedrey said:
I’d love to talk to Newton, but I’m afraid he’d disdainfully refuse to talk to me, and there goes my one shot. I’d also love to tell Mendel that he’d be vindicated, but I don’t speak German. I’ve still to make my choice.
jmb said:
I love this guy. He’s the same in every interview — so enthusiastic and unashamedly authentic in his fascination with life.
memoirpoet said:
I’m a writer. Love the site — I’m new to Word Press. Thanks.
sandrabranum said:
There’s so many scientists that I really don’t have a preference as to who I would want to talk with, although I’m kind of leaning toward the guy who built the pyramids. Thanks for subscribing to my blog.
jrbenjamin said:
That’s an interesting choice.
Although I don’t know if the pyramids of Egypt were constructed or designed by a single person.
tedrey said:
The architect of the first pyramids seems to have been named Imhotep and is one of the most interesting .and versatile characters in ancient history — he also left the earliest medical writings — well worth looking up.
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supernova said:
Great to meet you on here and thank you for following. Izaac Newton, Father of physics, is my choice too – wondrous!
I’ll look forward to sharing opinions and thoughts with you in the future, you’re an interesting person.
Regards and speak soon, James 🙂
larryjben said:
Dang, all this time I have just been on facebook and the real wisdom of the world is here. thanks for posting and I am going to link to the video on my fb page.
readingmater said:
There’s a couplet I half remember in answer to the one you quote. It ends with
..”the devil answered “Ho!
Let Einstein be”- restored the status quo.”
jrbenjamin said:
Haha, that’s pretty good.
I’m going to do some searching to see the original version.
Regardless: it’s certainly true. Newtonian physics is weird enough, with its action at a distance, but an Einsteinian worldview is just trippy. Devilishly trippy.
Thanks for reading and for the comment…
Darel "Love" Santucci said:
I love your insight in this subject matter; as a follower of anything that has to do with super-colliders, and exploration outside of the ‘senses’ that we experience – you tied it all in as how this ‘train set’ should be ran… very good. Be well, my new friend.
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seeker said:
And whatever he invented was really hard study at school. Brilliant mind.
darellovesantucci said:
Isaac Newton was a brilliant mind, Seeker; and, indeed – a hard study back in the school days; yet, while I agree with JRB in his assessments in this forum, you also have to think about others that contributed to what we have learned, and have learned to apply in our lives, and sciences: like, Socrates, Aristotle, and Charles Darwin. The two early Greeks being more of a different mindset; yet, for their time – they were contributors, as well. Also, we cannot forget about Albert Einstein. Then, you have Edward Witten, Neal DeGrasse Tyson, and many others who participate in the study of the chaos theory and string theory, along with many other scientists of quantum physics and mechanics. We are not finished in our study of the universe, and, multiverses. As a person who was raised as a Christian, I cannot forget about the teachings of Christ – just as there are many who believe in the teachings of Allah, and the multiple Gods in the Hindu faith (among many other religious belief systems around the world). I believe, however, that when we see the Second Coming, it will herald the final knowledge of Everything – in other words, religion and science will finally come together, as one. Multiple dimensions, time and space continuum, all of it – will finally come to light. I hope that find my comment acceptable, and, thank you for your comment. Meanwhile, hurry up, Cerna!
seeker said:
Wow…. Indeed, there so much science to religion and vise versa. When it comes to waiting, I move in snail’s pace. Thank you, Cerna.
Nativegrl77 said:
thanks for the visit … my favorite scientist
Nativegrl77 said:
I was talking about Tyson
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