Happy Newtonmas 25 Dec 201122 Jun 2018 Isaac Newton was born on the 25th of December (under the old Calendar; in our calendar he was born on 4 January, but ignore that for this post). In a wonderful marriage of good scholarship and computers (often a very bad arrangement), Cambridge University Library’s Digital Library project has digitised some of Isaac’s notebooks and manuscripts. This one is his Trinity College Notebook, which he wrote as an undergraduate. Of interest to me, given that I am about to publish a chapter in a book (in Portuguese!) on the use of tree diagrams and thinking, is his version of the Arbor Porphyriana (Tree of Porphyry) used for generations to teach Aristotle’s logical division, or diaeresis: Logical trees are a very old way of representing classifications of ideas by division; we would call them subsets today. History Logic and philosophy Science
Administrative A mild apology 29 Nov 2008 I haven’t done much philosophical blogging lately. There are Reasons. I’m preparing to move to Sydney over the next few months (and there may be a period in which I have no laptop too), and trying to catch up on a bunch of projects I have in play and which… Read More
Evolution A blast from my past is reasonable – shock! 14 Aug 2008 As I sit here, dying slowly and loudly from a dose of gastro and probably ‘flu (Australian male: we don’t do sick well), trying to distract myself from the efforts of my lower intestines to escape to Jamaica, I came across a name I recall all too well from my… Read More
Humor All gorillas are Sigourney Weaver 13 Sep 2007 As a silverback, I am always intrigued when you humans start to debate our nature, or put us in silly films (not that the one with Sigourney was silly – any film she’s in is fine by me. We don’t get much film out here in the wild, anyway). But,… Read More
Perception! yum … Newton certainly knows how to cut it (must read very carefully and sleep on it) geometry ? novelty Th?nk you
I recognise that diagram! Another blog I read included the same scanned page in a post published earlier this month. I have no point beyond just sharing the joy of unexpected recognition.
Ooh! Newton’s tree even has baubles on it. BTW, isn’t explaining Newton’s theological views a great way of trolling gnu atheists who call today Newtonmass? Oh and happy boxing day!
Newton may well have been the greatest and most important scientist of all time. And he was religious too, so I suppose we should put that one down for the accomodationists. I’m happy to be celebrating Newtonmas. May the mass x acceleration be with you.
And he was religious too… Newton was not merely religious he was a fundamentalist religious fanatic who seriously believed that he, and he alone, had been chosen by God to reveal the truths of nature. Definitely not an accomodationist.
Prezado João S. Wilkins, Qual é o título do livro em português? Seriously, what’s the title of the book you’re writing the chapter on tree diagrams and thinking? Any working papers? Any work-in-progress we Portuguese-speaking people could peruse ahead of the others? Any scraps? Anything at all? When will it be published? Feliz Natal, Feliz Newtonmas
Pombo, O. and Pina, M. (edrs) Em Torno de Darwin. Lisboa: Fim de Século (in press). As to publication, sometime this coming year. I have nothing online, sorry.
Have you published something by now? Happy to read about tree diagrams and thinking. Warm regards, Verena