Merry Newtonmas
 

Born on December 25, 1642 (old style), Sir Isaac Newton was warden and
master of the British Royal Mint for the last 30 years of his life.
His work even touches on U.S. colonial numismatics. Newton had himself
sworn as a justice of the peace so that he could pursue
counterfeiters.

If you check the Usenet archives you will find Newtomas greetings here
going back a few years, to 2000.

Google Newtonmas and you will see that it is getting quite a bit of
play, especially among "skeptics."

I first used the word in a community commentary radio broadcast about
1984.
http://www.experiencefestival.com/newtonmas

"Conder" tokens from Middlesex honor him.
(Image he http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:N...ondertoken.jpg)

Newton graced the one pound note. You can find an image he
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/money.htm
(It is a diversion to figure out how many einsteins are in a newton
are in a bohr.)

Merry Newtonmas
 

On Dec 23, 9:20*am, Mike Marotta wrote:
Born on December 25, 1642 (old style), Sir Isaac Newton was warden and
master of the British Royal Mint for the last 30 years of his life.
His work even touches on U.S. colonial numismatics. Newton had himself
sworn as a justice of the peace so that he could pursue
counterfeiters.

If you check the Usenet archives you will find Newtomas greetings here
going back a few years, to 2000.

Google Newtonmas and you will see that it is getting quite a bit of
play, especially among "skeptics."

I first used the word in a community commentary radio broadcast about
1984.http://www.experiencefestival.com/newtonmas

*"Conder" tokens from Middlesex honor him.
(Image hehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:N...ondertoken.jpg)

Newton graced the one pound note. You can find an image hehttp://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/money.htm
(It is a diversion to figure out how many einsteins are in a newton
are in a bohr.)

Newton was a very devout and studious Christian. He spent a lot of
time at Bible study. He would be appalled at any idolatry.

He was also very interested in alchemy, one of the last great minds to
give it as much consideration as he did.

oly

Merry Newtonmas
 

Mike Marotta wrote:
Born on December 25, 1642 (old style), Sir Isaac Newton was warden and
master of the British Royal Mint for the last 30 years of his life.
... Newton had himself
sworn as a justice of the peace so that he could pursue
counterfeiters.


For a fictional account of this part of Newton's life, I recommend the
last volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle of novels, "The System
of the World." It features Newton on the trail of a notorious
counterfeiter, and includes a Trial of the Pyx (which only later did I
learn is still an actual requirement for the Royal Mint.) The whole
trilogy is well worth reading, especially if you're interested in the
start of modern science- quite a few natural philosophers of the time
make an appearance. Plus there are pirates, spies, the Inquisition,
secret societies, cryptography, and much more. Also, in the first
volume, Newton in his Cambridge student days has an amusing two-page
discussion with a local merchant as they argue over which of the
various coins still in circulation should be acceptable in trade, and
at what discount. I recommend all three volumes, though they are
rather lengthy.

-Robert A. DeRose, Jr.

Merry Newtonmas
 

On Dec 23, 10:40*am, oly wrote:

Newton was a very devout and studious Christian. *He spent a lot of
time at Bible study. *He would be appalled at any idolatry.

Oh you mean like some Jewish guy nailed up on a cross?

Merry Newtonmas
 

On Dec 23, 11:45*am, RF wrote:
On Dec 23, 10:40*am, oly wrote:

Newton was a very devout and studious Christian. *He spent a lot of
time at Bible study. *He would be appalled at any idolatry.

Oh you mean like some Jewish guy nailed up on a cross?

That's generally who's referred to when soneone mentions Christian,
yes. Man? That and more.

oly

Merry Newtonmas
 

"Mike Marotta" wrote in message
...

Born on December 25, 1642 (old style), Sir Isaac Newton was warden and
master of the British Royal Mint for the last 30 years of his life.
His work even touches on U.S. colonial numismatics. Newton had himself
sworn as a justice of the peace so that he could pursue
counterfeiters.

I am moved to add:

Said Newton: "I've got a great notion
That force is a changer of motion.
Let's put it this way:
F equals ma
The rest is just sweat and devotion."

I should've kept quiet, but I often gravitate towards inappropriate
reactions.

--
Jeff R.

Merry Newtonmas
 

On Dec 23, 12:21*pm, wrote:
For a fictional account of this part of Newton's life, I recommend the
last volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle of novels,
"The System of the World." *It features Newton on the trail ...

Thanks for the pointer to that! I knew only of Philip Kerr's _Dark
Matter_, another fictionalized account of Newton's life.

Oly wrote:
"Newton was a very devout and studious Christian. He spent a lot of
time at Bible study. He would be appalled at any idolatry.
He was also very interested in alchemy, one of the last great minds
to
give it as much consideration as he did."

Actually, neither assertion may be completely correct. I went through
quite a lot of biographical material before writing my own article for
The Numismatist (November 2001). We would have to dig into what
"original" archives still exist at Cambridge. Even then we would have
the problem that Supreme Court scholars face today:
textualist (or strict constructionist), originalist,doctrinalist,
contextualist, or structuralist. In other words: Even where we have
Newton's own words, was he telling us the truth about himself or
leaving a record? Then, over time, meanings change. ("Silly" once
meant "soul-ly" i.e., pious.) Newton made a pun about his studies
being "luciferous" meaning -- we think -- only that they bore light.

Be all that as it may, most biographers today -- and this may be our
own conceit -- accept that he was a Unitarian and an Arian and he
denied orthodox Christianity, including the Trinity, if not the
divinity of Jesus.

Also, while, he did work for himself as a chemist, the language of
that was "alchemical" by necessity. Newton was born in 1642, Boyle
published his "Skeptical Chymist" in 1651. So, Newton certainly had
opportunity to know of the work, but the extent to which it affected
Newton's "alchemy" is not clear. We believe that Newtwon concocted his
own remedies for his illnesses. Again, was this "alchemy" or merely
folk medicine? (And then: folk medicine tended to work... which the
university kind tended not to...) Again, the fact is that an analysis
of his hair showed no mercury and when he died, he had lost but one
tooth. So, either he was very healthy, or did not actually do a lot
of "alchemy" or something else.

That said, I agree with you 100% that Newton himself -- like Lincoln,
for that matter or most truly "great" people -- would only blush at
the honors we toss at his name today.

Merry Newtonmas
 

On Dec 27, 10:08*am, Mike Marotta wrote:
On Dec 23, 12:21*pm, wrote:

For a fictional account of this part of Newton's life, I recommend the
last volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle of novels,
"The System of the World." *It features Newton on the trail ...

Thanks for the pointer to that! *I knew only of Philip Kerr's _Dark
Matter_, another fictionalized account of Newton's life.

Oly wrote:

"Newton was a very devout and studious Christian. *He spent a lot of
time at Bible study. *He would be appalled at any idolatry.
He was also very interested in alchemy, one of the last great minds
to
give it as much consideration as he did."

Actually, neither assertion may be completely correct. *I went through
quite a lot of biographical material before writing my own article for
The Numismatist (November 2001). *We would have to dig into what
"original" archives still exist at Cambridge. *Even then we would have
the problem that Supreme Court scholars face today:
textualist (or strict constructionist), originalist,doctrinalist,
contextualist, or structuralist. *In other words: Even where we have
Newton's own words, was he telling us the truth about himself or
leaving a record? *Then, over time, meanings change. *("Silly" once
meant "soul-ly" i.e., pious.) *Newton made a pun about his studies
being "luciferous" meaning -- we think -- only that they bore light.

Be all that as it may, most biographers today -- and this may be our
own conceit -- accept that he was a Unitarian and an Arian and he
denied orthodox Christianity, including the Trinity, if not the
divinity of Jesus.

Also, while, he did work for himself as a chemist, the language of
that was "alchemical" by necessity. *Newton was born in 1642, Boyle
published his "Skeptical Chymist" in 1651. *So, Newton certainly had
opportunity to know of the work, but the extent to which it affected
Newton's "alchemy" is not clear. We believe that Newtwon concocted his
own remedies for his illnesses. *Again, was this "alchemy" or merely
folk medicine? *(And then: folk medicine tended to work... which the
university kind tended not to...) *Again, the fact is that an analysis
of his hair showed no mercury and when he died, he had lost but one
tooth. *So, either he was very healthy, or did not actually do a lot
of "alchemy" or something else.

That said, I agree with you 100% that Newton himself -- like Lincoln,
for that matter or most truly "great" people -- would only blush at
the honors we toss at his name today.

I'm gonna have to dig for the reference, but I distinctly recall
another American (or Canadian-American) liberal throwing **** on
Newton's memory for spending too much time on bible studies (and
alchemy - and by alchemy, I mean transmuting "base" materials into
gold, not folk remedies). Might have been Galbraith in his book "The
Age of Uncertainty".

oly