QQC Newton

Quote

"Nature to him was an open book, whose letters he could read without effort"

"Both men feared for Newton's sanity. They responded with careful concern and wise humanity, and the crisis passed"

Question
Why was Halley so mad about Newton not speaking out about? Why did her expect him to say when he asked him about the ellipse? I wonder if he had some kind of mental illness? Or why didn't he like to speak out? I wonder what it would have been to be in his brain?

Comment
This article was about Newton and his life. At times alot of his friends worried about because he was acting very uncaring and so oblivious to his work.

QQC 5-6

Quote

It is hard to imagine now, but geology excited the nineteenth century - positively gripped it - in a way that no science ever had before or would again.

Unfortunately, Wistar failed completely to recognize the bone's significance and merely made a few cautious and inispired remarks to the effect that it was indeed a whopper.

Question

Has science lost its interest to young ones? Why is it that we have lost interest like there was before? Where has our interest gone? In the reading why did Hutton wrote his findings in a way that no one understood? in the second chapter why didn't anyone took interest in the bone that was toss aside? How would history change if someone taken interest in the bone from the beginning?

Comment

From the first article I find it very interesting how bad Hutton's writing were and how after his dead Playfair "produced a simplified exposition" of Hutton's work. The simplified xplaniation on Hutton's findings about how the marine findings had risen up with the mountains itself instead, contradicting other people's belief that the sea levels had changed.

Ch 4 QQC

"Once in a great while, a few times in history, a human mind produces an observation so acute and unexpected that people can't quite decided which is the more amazing - the fact or the thinking of it. Principia was one of those moments. It made Newton instantly famous. For the rest of life he would would be draped with plaudits and honors..."

How often or how rare are this epiphanies that happen to the greatest minds? What other important discoveries have we forgotten about other scientist or mathematician? How important are those important discoveries? How could Isaac have forgotten where his calculations where? Why was the comet named after 16 years after his Halley death?

What I like about this chapter is that it hits a topic that I thought only I thought about. About whats more amazing the fact or the fact that they were thinking about. Does someone have to be demented in order to discover great things like Isaac Newton? I think anyone can be discover great things like Isaac or Halley, its just that some people have to be a little out of whack.

Ch 2-3 QQC

"You also quickly realize that none of the maps you have ever seen of the solar system were remotely drawn to scale. Most schoolroom charts show the planets coming one after the other at neighborly intervals-the outer giants actually cast shadows over each other in many illustrations-but this is a necessary deceit to get them all on the same piece of paper."

What other things are we ignorant about? Has technology really helped us? Are the biggest discoveries stumble upon by accident? What does make a planet a planet?

This reading was interesting because it talks about the mistakes that people make. Usually stories praises all the scientist or who ever studies planets. What I liked about this reading is when they talk about how Pluto has a large moon and how no one ever had noticed. How could they have noticed before? I know this was in 1978 but im assuming that we had enough technology to notice the biggest moon in the solar system.