Sir Isaac Newton and his Notebook

Recently the University of Cambridge published Sir Isaac Newton's Notebook.

The Questiones quaedam philosophiae

The strange part is, that his entire notebook is written in Greek!

Trinity College Notebook by Isaac Newton
Part of the Newton Papers Collection.

This is a notebook Newton acquired while he was an undergraduate at Trinity College and used from about 1661 to 1665 (see his inscription). It includes many notes from his studies and, increasingly, his own explorations into mathematics, physics and metaphysics. It was judged 'Not fit to be printed' by Newton's executor and was presented to the Library by the fifth Earl of Portsmouth in 1872.

This notebook contains many blank pages (all shown) and has been used by Newton from both ends. Our presentation displays the notebook in a sensible reading order. It shows the 'front' cover and the 30 folios that follow and then turns the notebook upside down showing the other cover and the pages that follow it. Full transcriptions are available for folios 88r-135r, a famous section of the manuscript where Newton organises his notetaking according to 'Questiones quaedam Philosophiae' (certain philosophical questions). The notebook was photographed while it was disbound in 2011

The link to the entire notebook

Notebook



Why do you think that is? Did somebody else write it?
Or did he stole all his research from somebody else?

reply to post by Hellas


The Notes are written in Greek, Latin and English. Remember Newton was a very intelligent person:-

www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk...

It does not, I think, misrepresent Newton's intentions as a scientist to maintain that he wished to write a Principles of Philosophy, like Descartes, but that his inability to explain gravity forced him to restrict his subject to the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.

Both the similarity and the difference of titles are significant. Netwon seems to have considered his magnum opus, the Principia, incomplete.

It contained only a mathematical description of gravity. Unlike Descartes's Principles it did not even pretend to explain why the universe runs as it does.

The Copernican Revolution
Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought
Thomas S. Kuhn
Page 259

Perhaps this is the philosophical half of Newton's work.
The part he never rendered into latin as he couldn't justify the system.

Having a passing familiarity with his english language Optics and the olde English writting style in it,
I find that page 2 of the journal seems to contain the greek word Eidos a lot. A whole lot. (some are visible in the top left picture in the opening post.) Just as in his book Optics, by page two he is deep into defining light by measuring either it's refraction or reflection. He seems to me put his central thesis right up front and dive right into it. So it looks like the theory of forms behind the universe.

At least that's my impression.


David Grouchy

reply to post by Hellas


Very cool of them to post these notes online

But you do realize once this 2012 thing blows over the next big date will be the 2036 date, I think it was, that Newton predicted the world would end.

But once again, good on them for publishing these notes

I have one word for Newton's Notebook (codex):
AWESOME!

on page 179 we find the

Quaestiones quaedam philosophicae
Certain Philosophical questions

and it's written in olde English.

Also the book contains

"Of God"
"Of ye Creation"
"Of ye soule"
"Of Sleepe and Dreams &c"

Gravity: "Whither y^e rays of gravity may bee stopped by reflecting or refracting y^m, if so a perpetuall motion may bee made one of these ways." - Newton

On violent motion
Nature of light
Nature of colour
Of atoms

David Grouchy

reply to post by Max_TO


According to the TV show I watched yesterday
The date is 2060

I just became familiar with it from the show
so i'm no expert

reply to post by EvolEric


You are probily right with the 2060 and thanks for correcting me . I was not sure about the 2036 but for some reason that date was stuck in my head

Originally posted by alldaylong
reply to post by Hellas

 

The Notes are written in Greek, Latin and English. Remember Newton was a very intelligent person:-

www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk...

The notes are written in ancient greek. Which is a difference and he didn't know ancient greek

reply to post by Hellas

The notes are written in ancient greek. Which is a difference and he didn't know ancient greek

On the contrary, it was exactly ‘ancient’ (we call it ‘classical’) Greek that Newton did know.

Western European scholars from the Roman era until the beginning of the last century read and often wrote classical Greek, which they learnt from their textual sources, both Greek and Roman (educated Romans wrote and spoke Greek, not Latin).

Nobody spoke modern Greek, for the simple reason that they did not know it. Christian Europeans could not visit Greece until the late eighteenth century; it was in the hands of the Ottoman Turks, who throughout the mediaeval era were the sworn enemies of Christendom. Greece in those times was terra incognita.

It would have been very surprising indeed if Newton’s notes had been in modern Greek. On the other hand, it is quite in order to expect him to have written in the classical tongue.