Celebrating the Sciences & the Humanities: Part 2 of 2

Dear Members, Alumni, and Friends of the JSMT:

In this edition of Quotemail, we conclude the thread that I began in our last edition about the interrelationship between the sciences and the humanities.

Aristotle: “The Master of Those Who Know”

By Rob Chappell, JSMT Advisor

Reprinted from Cursus Honorum VI: 9 (April 2006)

          Before the rise of modern science, what is known today as the scientific enterprise was called “natural philosophy” – that is, “the study of Nature’s wisdom.” One of the foremost “natural philosophers” of Classical antiquity was Aristotle (384-322 BCE), whose writings encompass such diverse subjects as physics, astronomy, geosciences, ethics, politics, logic, psychology, biology, rhetoric, and metaphysics. Hailed as the “Master of Those Who Know” when his writings were rediscovered and Latinized in eleventh-century Spain, he came to be regarded as “THE Philosopher” by his Scholastic admirers at Europe’s leading universities.

          Aristotle was a keen observer of the natural world. Some of his theories have not stood the test of time – such as his geocentric conception of the Universe and his belief in the spontaneous generation of living organisms. Nonetheless, he made meticulous observations of both living and nonliving things, and based on his observations, he devised a logically consistent system of animal, vegetable, and mineral classifications that endured for two millennia.

          Aristotle was also interested in what we would call the “humanities.” His writings on ethics and political science display his deep insights into human nature and the social order. He is often regarded as the first Western literary critic because of his books on the aesthetics of poetry and rhetoric. Aristotle also ventured into the realm of metaphysics: his reasoned speculations about the nature of reality have exercised a profound influence on Western philosophy ever since.

          Here are some resources for readers interested in learning more about Aristotle and his world of ideas:

* http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/browse-Aristotle.html – From MIT comes this collection of the Philosopher’s most influential works, which can be printed or downloaded free of charge. Readers can also post their comments on these texts and participate in email discussions about them.

* http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/aristotle.html – This page contains a short biography of the Philosopher and a review of his intellectual legacy. The famous painting at the top of the page is by the Renaissance master Raphael, and it depicts Plato (left) with his star pupil, Aristotle (right).

* http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm – This is an introductory overview of Aristotle’s holistic system of philosophy. It includes sections on his contributions to the arts and sciences and his place in the history of ideas.

Sir Isaac Newton: Master of the Sciences and the Humanities

By Rob Chappell, JSMT Advisor

(Unpublished Article, Written in Summer 2009)

          Sir Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643-March 31, 1727) is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time. Born in England on his family’s Lincolnshire estate, Newton learned to read and write at home from his maternal grandmother; he later attended boarding school and matriculated at Cambridge University in 1661. After completing his degree in 1665, Newton returned to his family’s estate, where he began to develop his theories of the calculus, optics, and universal gravitation.

          Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667 and was appointed to the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics two years later. (This is the same chair held by Dr. Stephen Hawking, the renowned cosmologist.) During his thirty-year tenure in this position, Newton perfected and published his revolutionary discoveries in mathematics, optics, and physics. In 1669, he built the first reflecting (Newtonian) telescope, which represented a vast improvement over Galileo’s refracting telescope design. Newton’s most famous work, published in 1687, is the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), a grand synthesis of his understanding of the mathematical laws governing the Universe. Composed in Latin, the book was quickly translated into English and other major European languages and became a perennial bestseller. The revolutionary insights expounded in the Principia laid the groundwork for rapid progress in physics, astronomy, and mathematics during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

          Newton’s accomplishments in the humanities, although less well known than his scientific achievements, are noteworthy in their own right. Throughout his long and active scientific career, Newton conducted research on alchemy (the esoteric precursor of chemistry) and wrote extensively about his alchemical experiments in manuscripts that have largely remained unpublished. He also conducted exhaustive studies of ancient history, Hermetic philosophy, and sacred literature. Newton’s interest in alchemy led John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) to remark:

“Newton was not the first of the Age of Reason; he was the last of the magicians.”

          Newton was a true Renaissance polymath, a scientist dedicated to exploring all branches of knowledge. His groundbreaking research in both the sciences and the humanities won him lasting fame as one of the most gifted individuals of the second millennium CE. Regarding his numerous achievements, Newton remained modest to the end of his days, writing in his memoirs:

“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

          In his later years, Newton moved to London, where he was appointed Master of the Royal Mint, overseeing the production and distribution of British currency throughout the United Kingdom and its overseas colonies. He also served as President of the Royal Society (a fellowship of eminent scientists chartered by the British Crown) for the last 24 years of his life. In recognition of his manifold accomplishments, he was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705. After his death in 1727, Newton’s mortal remains were buried in Westminster Abbey, and a splendid monument was erected over his tomb depicting his revolutionary contributions to the scientific enterprise. Perhaps his most famous epitaph was composed by the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744)):

“Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night;

God said, ‘Let Newton be,’ and all was light.”

Webliography

• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton/ (Sir Isaac Newton @ the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/ (The Chemistry of Isaac Newton)
• http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/  (The Newton Project)

Until next time –

Rob