Sunday, December 25, 2011

December 25

Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the most remarkable people in recorded history.




Sir Isaac Newton

At the age 25, he published the Principia, which laid out the laws of force, motion, and gravity. He went on to invent calculus, showed that light is made up of a spectrum of colors, and made significant advances in optics. Although others would likely have discovered these at some point, it’s truly remarkable that one incredible intellect did so much.

Therefore, Sir Isaac, in honor of your 369th birthday, I dedicate this. Without you, it couldn't have been written. And I imagine it would be even better if all the exoplanets were known when it was.


10 comments:

History Doc said...

Merry Newtonmas, everyone.

ERP said...

Brilliant. Both him and the song.

Claire said...

I really need to get an apple ornament for our tree. Merry Newtonmas!

bobbie said...

Perfectly appropo!!!

A Doc 2 Be said...

Always look on the bright side of life!

Python = awesomeness :)

cliffintokyo said...

Thought you were going to do a satirical post about the *lost* da Vinci painting for a moment there!

Lydia said...

ah, one of my favourite songs! :)

Mrs A said...

So that's who i have to blame for inventing calculus, damn drove me nuts in school, thanks Isaac, I could have passed and got a decent job, but noooo, damn calculus..

Unknown said...

Mrs. A. It's worse, thankfully we threw out Newton's notation for calculus and kept Leibniz's (who invented it at roughly the same time, but didn't have the political pull to get credit).

Thanks Newton, for writing so clearly that I can figure out the Principa with my lousy latin.

Anonymous said...

You neglected to mention that Newton also invented the cat flap.

 
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