Isaac Newton Bbc4

[Khandro]

I have just watched the above, and thought it was a very poor and chauvinistic programme. Newton was a great genius and indubitably altered the course of scientific knowledge, but it portrayed him as a paranoid psychopath working in isolation from his contemporaries and predecessors. There was no mention (unless I missed it) of the theories and work done previously by Tycho Brache and Johannes Kepler into planetary motion, and his work on alchemy was made, with typical 'clever' hindsight, to appear ludicrous, making no reference to contemporary beliefs.
Did anyone watch it and if so what do you think?

[Old_Geezer]

I didn't watch it, but the description of your OP sounds much as I have read the guy to be. Genius, but difficult socially. I think in some folk the neuron connections that allow one to succeed to an amazing degree in one field can seem to be at the expense of other talents. As for alchemy, well I don't believe there was a clear cut difference between the ways to search for information at that point; many interested in science would also be interested in alchemy also.

[sandyRoe]

'If I have seen further it is because I have been standing on the shoulders of giants.'
Wasn't that a dig at someone who wasn't that tall?

[jim360]

Yes, apparently aimed at Robert Hooke - the two were great enemies. Mainly because they were both arrogant. Hooke is supposed to have claimed to Christopher Wren that he had solved the problem of planetary motion but refused to share it "so that others might have the pleasure of discovering the solution for themselves".

[LazyGun]

Still have not been able to catch all of this - had started watching it last night but then iplayer decided to act up.

Still in the early days coverage at the moment- Seems pretty good so far, and more or less in line with what i remember - although with genius seems to come the singularly bad ideas of drinking extract of horse manure and stuffing a bodkin down the back of your eye ;)

[Khandro]

On some occasions I have thought I actually was drinking extract of horse manure! - hang in there LG, still interested in your findings, though as I am coming over to the sceptred isle on Wednesday (nothing to do with funerals) I shall be off the air for a couple of weeks.

[Peter Pedant]

.

remember the prog makers - [for they shall forever obfuscate)
no.....
the prog makes in order to sell sell sell, have to make something new

they can't sell - just another rehash of Newton

So we get instead of a good reworking of c17 science

Newton the transvestite !

Newton the psychic or neurotic or mercury inhaoer

and the result is the Beeb prog.


Sorry I am still grizling about Lucy Worsley (typical historian) ignoring Geo III 's porphyria in 'Diseases Kings have had' and saying instead he was manic depressive. This ignored the fact that the AIP gene had been identified in one of his descendants (new mutation) - oh god what a waste of three hours....I sympathise Khandro

[Khandro]

Yes P.P. and also, he wasn't simply the 'Last Magician', he was the last man to know everything there was to know about science.