Vol. 39, No. 1, January 2010
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The True Story of Newton and the Apple
The Royal Society has announced that the original version of the famous story of Newton and the falling apple is being made available for the first time in manuscript form. The story—in which Newton claims to have received inspiration for the theory of gravitation from seeing a falling apple in his garden—was told by Newton to William Stukeley and originally appeared in his 1752 biography, Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life. The most celebrated anecdote in science exists as a fragile paper manuscript in the Royal Society’s archives, but it can now be viewed in a fully interactive format by anybody with internet access.
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Notes from the Inside
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News
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Member News
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2009 HSS Annual Meeting Survey
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2009 Employment Survey
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Adventures in Romantic Science
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The True Story of Newton and the Apple
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Perspectives on Science
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Darwin Film Released
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What’s In A Session?
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Letter: How Not to Engage “Anti-Evolutionist” Historians
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The John Tyndall Correspondence Project
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The 2010 Election Slate
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2009 Prize Winners
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D. Kim Foundation for the History
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HSS 2010 Annual Meeting: Call for Papers
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Jobs, Conferences, Grants
Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society and thus Newton’s modern-day successor, said: “The publication of Newton’s biography as a Turning the Pages™ presentation represents our commitment to sharing the Royal Society’s history with the widest possible readership in our 350th anniversary year. Stukeley’s biography is a precious artefact for historians of science, and I am delighted that it is being made available today, along with other treasures from our archives, in a format that allows anybody to view them as if they were holding the manuscript in front of them.”
The virtual manuscripts are being made available on the same day as the publication of Seeing Further, a lavishly illustrated new book telling the story of science and the Royal Society, edited and introduced by Bill Bryson. The launch of the interactive manuscripts and book publication form part of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary celebrations this year.
The presentations are created using innovative software which allows users to do much more than just turn pages—manuscripts can be magnified and rotated, and commentaries appear on many of the pages.
As well as collecting Newton’s musings on his own life, Stukeley also gathered material about Newton’s younger days from residents of Grantham, where he went to school. One story tells of him building a perfect, working scale model of a windmill, based on observation of a full-size version that was being built in the area. Unimpressed by his wind-powered model, Newton went on to build a fully functional mouse-powered version “wh[ich] worked it as naturally as the wind” (2).
Other treasures from the Royal Society’s archive that are being made available include the revolutionary Thomas Paine’s iron bridge design, the philosopher John Locke’s contribution to an early American constitution, and rare and beautiful natural history illustrations from the 17th through to the 19th centuries.
Turning the Pages will go live on 00:01 GMT Monday 18th January at the following URL: http://www.royalsociety.org/turning-the-page