Newton lived to be 84 years old, leaving a lot of words in his life, recording what he thoughts and thoughts. Surprisingly, he left behind an astonishing amount of manuscripts and bonds and stocks, but did not leave any will. Why did Newton let the manuscript accept the impermanence of fate after his death and endure the torture and test of purgatory? Obviously, Newton believed in the value of his manuscript, so he could not bear to discard it. He also knew that there was a hidden danger and could not be made public immediately. What is intertwined with the historical situation of the manuscript is the historical change of Newton's image. Newton died at his peak and was buried in Westminster Cathedral , and was regarded as a devout scientific saint by his supporters. However, Newton in the manuscript is an anti-Trilonist theist who is obsessed with alchemy. The manuscript gives people the opportunity to understand his two aspects: the extraordinary Newton and the ordinary Newton. In the book "History of the Drifting of Newton's Manuscripts", Sarah Dry visited Newton's disciples and enemies, collectors, merchants, scholars and marginalists, and used detective writing to tell the "Odyssey" journey of Newton's manuscripts for nearly three hundred years.
The following content is excerpted from "History of Newton's Manuscripts Drifting". The subtitle was added by the editor and is not owned by the original text. It has been authorized by the publisher to publish.
"History of Newton's Manuscripts Drift", written by Sarah Delhi, translated by Wang Zheran, Force 丨 Hunan Science and Technology Press March 2022 edition
inheritance people want to know what exactly is written in the manuscript
00 facing a huge amount of inheritance, Newton's inheritance quarreled. Woolsthorp's ancestral real estate was left to John, who was closest to Newton's blood. He was the great-grandson of Uncle Newton and had a very difficult life. The local pastor described him as "a poor man in the family that God also knew."
In just six years afterwards, he was addicted to gambling and alcohol and squandered all his inheritance. Newton had two half-sisters, Mary and Hannah, and a half-brother Benjamin. They had 8 children in total. These nephews and nieces who were half-kind with Newton divided the stocks and pensions, which accounted for a considerable proportion of the inheritance. Newton had nearly 2,000 books worth 270 pounds, bought by a warden of a naval prison for £300 and gave it to the son of the parish priest. Among the entire legacy left by Newton, the most difficult thing to estimate is the "thousands of pages of scattered and dirty manuscripts". Due to repeated revisions and modifications, these scattered manuscripts appear stained and ragged.
Estate inheritance People are very interested in knowing what is written in these manuscripts, and can they be sold for a price? They understood that their relative was a great celebrity, and any thing that had something to do with his name, even these old manuscripts, would definitely make a steady profit once they were published. So, a series of "quarrels and debates" were launched on how to deal with these manuscripts.
Of all, only Katherine and John Conduit are reluctant to use the manuscript as a money tree. John Conduit studied for a short time at the Trinity College in Cambridge (that was 10 years since Newton left Cambridge), and later served as a military judge in the army, stationed in Portugal with the army, and was finally promoted to captain of the Royal Guard Cavalry Team. He met Catherine in 1717 and soon got married. He also served as a council member of Whitchurch, Hampshire, and served as his assistant after Newton was promoted to the director of the mint and succeeded him as director after Newton's death. Obviously, because of the intersection between work and life, the two are getting closer and closer. However, at present, Conduit gradually realized that under the influence of the dual bond of marriage and emotion, he had been deeply involved in the storm of Newton's manuscripts.
As Newton's best friend, helper and niece son-in-law, John Conduit inherited his manuscript. He had collected extensive anecdotes about Newton's life, but he never completed the writing of his biography. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.(Inside page illustration of "Newton's Manuscripts Drifting History")
John and Catherine insist that these manuscripts not only represent Newton's great contribution to human society, but also reflect his great interpretation of the sacred order, and therefore must be properly preserved. Only in this way, "this outstanding Christian and great genius, his hard work and sincere exploration, will not be lost in the world." Soon, a three-person committee, including Catherine, was formed, whose duty was to oversee the review of manuscripts and decide what was worthy of public publication (so that inheritors could make another profit). The committee found Thomas Pellet of the Royal Society and invited him to participate in the review of the manuscript. In May 1727, Pelleter buried himself in the old paper pile and worked hard for three days. Finally, he drew up a list, which arbitrarily divided all manuscripts into 82 entries. The list was titled "A list of manuscripts belonging to the late Sir Isaac Newton, whose relatives were responsible for reviewing and inspecting."
Did Peret deliberately conceal Newton's religious and alchemy manuscripts?
Perett was the first person to read the manuscripts in detail after Newton's death, so he had the opportunity to see the original order of these manuscripts, however, unfortunately, he did not reflect this information on the manuscript list. We cannot understand what principles he followed when he sorted out these manuscripts. However, judging from the list he gave, he was almost groping hard in the darkness. He has different classification scales of manuscripts, some entries are useful (such as “unbound manuscripts related to the Leibnitz [Leibnitz] argument”, “a bundle of English and Latin letters sent to Sir Isaac”, “historical explanations of two significant erroneous errors in the Bible”), and some entries have rather vague descriptions (“scattered mathematical manuscripts”, “chemical manuscripts”, “scattered and dirty manuscripts, related to chronology”).
In fact, in this list, Pellet repeatedly uses the words "loose" and "foul" to describe the manuscript. Considering that the manuscript has been repeatedly modified and smeared, such a sloppy description is understandable. However, he used the same sloppy way to describe several Newton's notebooks, which seemed too casual. For example, he described one of the notes as "a common folio, part of which was written by Sir Isaac himself." This book is now called the "The Waste Book" and contains Newton's very important mathematical notes.
At that time, this kind of notebook was called " paperback books" (paperbooks). If Newton only wrote in these books, Pellet's task might not have been so difficult. At that time, people loved to use bulk paper, and their uses were varied, and Newton was no exception. He often buys and uses "kettle paper" (named for the watermark with the kettle shape printed), each piece is about 32×40 cm in size. He is used to folding the paper in half to form a simple folio page. He usually writes only on the right half page and only supplements or corrects on the left half page if necessary. The manuscripts can be bound into books or tied together with thin ropes. Newton sometimes folded the folding page in half again to form a booklet with four pages, and many Alchemy notes were recorded in such booklets. (He would cut one of the folds along the crease at the top so that he could write half a page without having to turn the paper all over.) He usually didn't care about the order of the manuscript, and often just piled it up or bundled it.
Newton is very stingy in life. He is reluctant to throw away the used paper from fifty years ago and has to be reused. This means that on the same manuscript, sometimes his notes from his early and later years will appear at the same time. Worse, most of the manuscripts do not have dates. There are only a few exceptions, such as some notebooks left by Newton when he was a bachelor's degree, he proudly stated: " Isaac Newton , Trinity College, 1661". In addition, most manuscripts do not have clear temporal information and rarely mention some current news containing time clues.
Newton lived to be 84 years old, leaving a lot of words in his life, recording what he thoughts and thoughts. Surprisingly, he left behind an astonishing amount of manuscripts and bonds and stocks, but did not leave any will. Why did Newton let the manuscript accept the impermanence of fate after his death and endure the torture and test of purgatory? Obviously, Newton believed in the value of his manuscript, so he could not bear to discard it. He also knew that there was a hidden danger and could not be made public immediately. What is intertwined with the historical situation of the manuscript is the historical change of Newton's image. Newton died at his peak and was buried in Westminster Cathedral , and was regarded as a devout scientific saint by his supporters. However, Newton in the manuscript is an anti-Trilonist theist who is obsessed with alchemy. The manuscript gives people the opportunity to understand his two aspects: the extraordinary Newton and the ordinary Newton. In the book "History of the Drifting of Newton's Manuscripts", Sarah Dry visited Newton's disciples and enemies, collectors, merchants, scholars and marginalists, and used detective writing to tell the "Odyssey" journey of Newton's manuscripts for nearly three hundred years.
The following content is excerpted from "History of Newton's Manuscripts Drifting". The subtitle was added by the editor and is not owned by the original text. It has been authorized by the publisher to publish.
"History of Newton's Manuscripts Drift", written by Sarah Delhi, translated by Wang Zheran, Force 丨 Hunan Science and Technology Press March 2022 edition
inheritance people want to know what exactly is written in the manuscript
00 facing a huge amount of inheritance, Newton's inheritance quarreled. Woolsthorp's ancestral real estate was left to John, who was closest to Newton's blood. He was the great-grandson of Uncle Newton and had a very difficult life. The local pastor described him as "a poor man in the family that God also knew."
In just six years afterwards, he was addicted to gambling and alcohol and squandered all his inheritance. Newton had two half-sisters, Mary and Hannah, and a half-brother Benjamin. They had 8 children in total. These nephews and nieces who were half-kind with Newton divided the stocks and pensions, which accounted for a considerable proportion of the inheritance. Newton had nearly 2,000 books worth 270 pounds, bought by a warden of a naval prison for £300 and gave it to the son of the parish priest. Among the entire legacy left by Newton, the most difficult thing to estimate is the "thousands of pages of scattered and dirty manuscripts". Due to repeated revisions and modifications, these scattered manuscripts appear stained and ragged.
Estate inheritance People are very interested in knowing what is written in these manuscripts, and can they be sold for a price? They understood that their relative was a great celebrity, and any thing that had something to do with his name, even these old manuscripts, would definitely make a steady profit once they were published. So, a series of "quarrels and debates" were launched on how to deal with these manuscripts.
Of all, only Katherine and John Conduit are reluctant to use the manuscript as a money tree. John Conduit studied for a short time at the Trinity College in Cambridge (that was 10 years since Newton left Cambridge), and later served as a military judge in the army, stationed in Portugal with the army, and was finally promoted to captain of the Royal Guard Cavalry Team. He met Catherine in 1717 and soon got married. He also served as a council member of Whitchurch, Hampshire, and served as his assistant after Newton was promoted to the director of the mint and succeeded him as director after Newton's death. Obviously, because of the intersection between work and life, the two are getting closer and closer. However, at present, Conduit gradually realized that under the influence of the dual bond of marriage and emotion, he had been deeply involved in the storm of Newton's manuscripts.
As Newton's best friend, helper and niece son-in-law, John Conduit inherited his manuscript. He had collected extensive anecdotes about Newton's life, but he never completed the writing of his biography. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.(Inside page illustration of "Newton's Manuscripts Drifting History")
John and Catherine insist that these manuscripts not only represent Newton's great contribution to human society, but also reflect his great interpretation of the sacred order, and therefore must be properly preserved. Only in this way, "this outstanding Christian and great genius, his hard work and sincere exploration, will not be lost in the world." Soon, a three-person committee, including Catherine, was formed, whose duty was to oversee the review of manuscripts and decide what was worthy of public publication (so that inheritors could make another profit). The committee found Thomas Pellet of the Royal Society and invited him to participate in the review of the manuscript. In May 1727, Pelleter buried himself in the old paper pile and worked hard for three days. Finally, he drew up a list, which arbitrarily divided all manuscripts into 82 entries. The list was titled "A list of manuscripts belonging to the late Sir Isaac Newton, whose relatives were responsible for reviewing and inspecting."
Did Peret deliberately conceal Newton's religious and alchemy manuscripts?
Perett was the first person to read the manuscripts in detail after Newton's death, so he had the opportunity to see the original order of these manuscripts, however, unfortunately, he did not reflect this information on the manuscript list. We cannot understand what principles he followed when he sorted out these manuscripts. However, judging from the list he gave, he was almost groping hard in the darkness. He has different classification scales of manuscripts, some entries are useful (such as “unbound manuscripts related to the Leibnitz [Leibnitz] argument”, “a bundle of English and Latin letters sent to Sir Isaac”, “historical explanations of two significant erroneous errors in the Bible”), and some entries have rather vague descriptions (“scattered mathematical manuscripts”, “chemical manuscripts”, “scattered and dirty manuscripts, related to chronology”).
In fact, in this list, Pellet repeatedly uses the words "loose" and "foul" to describe the manuscript. Considering that the manuscript has been repeatedly modified and smeared, such a sloppy description is understandable. However, he used the same sloppy way to describe several Newton's notebooks, which seemed too casual. For example, he described one of the notes as "a common folio, part of which was written by Sir Isaac himself." This book is now called the "The Waste Book" and contains Newton's very important mathematical notes.
At that time, this kind of notebook was called " paperback books" (paperbooks). If Newton only wrote in these books, Pellet's task might not have been so difficult. At that time, people loved to use bulk paper, and their uses were varied, and Newton was no exception. He often buys and uses "kettle paper" (named for the watermark with the kettle shape printed), each piece is about 32×40 cm in size. He is used to folding the paper in half to form a simple folio page. He usually writes only on the right half page and only supplements or corrects on the left half page if necessary. The manuscripts can be bound into books or tied together with thin ropes. Newton sometimes folded the folding page in half again to form a booklet with four pages, and many Alchemy notes were recorded in such booklets. (He would cut one of the folds along the crease at the top so that he could write half a page without having to turn the paper all over.) He usually didn't care about the order of the manuscript, and often just piled it up or bundled it.
Newton is very stingy in life. He is reluctant to throw away the used paper from fifty years ago and has to be reused. This means that on the same manuscript, sometimes his notes from his early and later years will appear at the same time. Worse, most of the manuscripts do not have dates. There are only a few exceptions, such as some notebooks left by Newton when he was a bachelor's degree, he proudly stated: " Isaac Newton , Trinity College, 1661". In addition, most manuscripts do not have clear temporal information and rarely mention some current news containing time clues.Despite the difficulties, Pelleter at least recorded the number of manuscripts truthfully, which gave us a general impression of the size of the manuscript: 353 "folded, scattered and dirty manuscripts, related to graphics and mathematics", 495 manuscripts of the same type "related to calculations and mathematics", and a thick bundle of 606 manuscripts "related to chronology". Obviously, Newton had a strong interest in history during his lifetime.
1783, the location of the Portsmouth family's ancestral home, Newton's manuscripts are stored here for many years. Thanks to the photos provided by Hampshire Book and Information Agency. (Inside page illustration of "Newton's Manuscript Drifting History")
Perett performed his core task well: determining which Newton's manuscripts are "suitable for publication" so that inheritors can share some cash. He made a decision in less than three days. He believes that among the piles of manuscripts and notes, only five documents are worth publishing. Did Pellet deliberately conceal Newton's religious and alchemy manuscripts? Did he intend to maintain Newton's personal reputation and the image of the country he represents? His decision to disclose so few manuscripts and attempt to cover up so many manuscripts naturally raises such questions. However, this may not be the case. He simply accepted the commission from Newton's heir to determine which manuscripts can be published for profit. He claimed that only one manuscript could be delivered to print immediately, which was the Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms that Newton had worked hard to copy in a dark room before his death. The manuscript was soon sold for a high price of £350 (about £30,000 today) and was published the following year.
In the next few years, only two other manuscripts were published according to Pellett's advice. The first manuscript was published in 1728, and Newton originally intended to use the contents of it as the last volume of his classic work "Handle Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica". Another manuscript, Observations upon the Prophecies, was published in 1733. It is a highly technical work of interpretation that attempts to understand the hidden meanings of the biblical words. The remaining two manuscripts that Pellett believes can be published are: 31 half-fold "Paraoh Problems About Atanashu" and a "incomplete mathematical booklet" related to calculus. The two manuscripts were not published until the 20th century.
In addition to the above five documents, John Conduit inherited the remaining manuscripts. It was a pile of scattered paper, densely filled with Newton's notes. In the future, analyzing these manuscripts will take more than 60 years for scholars to do.
A large number of manuscripts of Newton were preserved almost intact to this day
What do Newton's inheritance want to discover from these manuscripts? At that time, people did not think that famous manuscripts were of collection value, even the handwritten manuscripts of great thinkers like Newton.
manuscript collection is actually a very recent phenomenon, and it was only revealed in the era when Newton lived. Obviously, this is not accidental. At that time, people continued to open up new areas of knowledge and started a series of academic and ideological changes. As the scope of knowledge continues to expand, the need for knowledge preservation technology has become increasingly urgent. The idea of universal language came into being, and Newton once took notes on this; in order to keep confidential and improve writing efficiency, shorthand technology was popular; natural magazine display rooms that displayed specimens spring up like mushrooms after a rain. In addition, there are more abstract solutions, such as "Novum Organum" published by Francis Bacon in 1620, and "reporter" Samuel Hartlib, a German-English eruditionist who has written a large number of natural knowledge manuals. Various phenomena show that a new system for collecting and organizing knowledge is gradually forming.
"Newton's Story" (1997) poster.
John Aubrey is an interesting guide to the times. He once wrote a booklet called "Biography of Sketches", which was filled with gossip and sarcastic comments. What people are more familiar with today is the book's name after its reprint in the Victorian era - "Brief Lives".Aubrey was one of the first people to have a sense of manuscript preservation, and in his opinion, the collection and preservation of famous manuscripts was both moral and philosophical necessity. He found, frustrated, that his fellow countrymen had no interest in it. Despite this, he still overcomes many obstacles and persists in collecting: various manuscripts, personal belongings, portraits, and life anecdotes. He believes that these objects not only demonstrate the great achievements of the great man during his lifetime, but also provide vivid materials for future generations to learn history.
Aubry shouted loudly, how urgent and important the collection work is, but the people around him are still indifferent, which made him feel deeply desperate. He has a collection of manuscripts by scientific masters, including Francis Bacon, Thomas Harriot, astronomer and mathematician John Dee. His curiosity seemed to be endless. He didn't understand why his strong desire for knowledge could not infect the people around him. Don't they want to understand the reasons why they achieved success through the manuscripts and handwriting of celebrities? He noticed that many people did not explain how to deal with their collections during their lifetime, resulting in the displacement of precious private collections. In a letter to their friend Anthony Wood, his regret was beyond words: "Oh, Anthony, look at what those executors and widows did. Which of those collections was not what their owners loved during their lifetime! People should be more public, move their hands, open their eyes, and protect these heritages."
Aubrey often warned members of the Royal Society to pay attention to keeping and publishing the manuscripts of scholars. He did his best to donate many books and specimens to the libraries and museums of the Royal Society, and also donated a batch of books to Oxford University Library , Ashmore Museum , and Shinjuku College. But this still cannot satisfy him. He often lamented that people are always careless and indifferent, allowing precious pieces of knowledge to slip away from their fingers. Throughout his life, Aubrey was always particularly sensitive to things that were both valuable and fleeting. He understood that if not recorded properly, even the greatest human achievements would eventually be forgotten.
Aubry once rescued the manuscript of mathematician Seth Ward, Bishop of Salisbury. He complained that he had snatched the manuscripts “from a bunch of cooks” and they were planning to use them to make pies. It is not just the chef who is annoying. Aubrey reminds people to be careful of the "enthusiastic housewives". They have no awe of manuscripts and always use the best of their own: to wrap fresh fish, "used as waste paper, sold to cardboard makers by pound", load firearms, or put them under "tailors' scissors." It is not difficult to see from Aubrey's records that people were generally indifferent to their manuscripts at that time, and they would not ask someone to keep them properly before their death. Fortunately, a large number of Newton's manuscripts have been preserved almost intact to this day. Like most historical events, there are both accidents and necessities.
Conduit intends to establish a monument for Newton in the form of a biography
Conduit's ability to inherit the manuscript is very complicated. Newton died as the director of the Mint. According to the rules at the time, all newly minted coins were guaranteed by the director's personal reputation. In other words, when Newton died, he was nominally burdened with debts equal to the total amount of currency issued by the British state. John Conduit took the initiative to take over the debt, that is, once he found a new currency that was insufficient, he would need to pay out of his own pocket and compensate him. As a condition of taking risks, Conduit demanded that all manuscripts left by Newton be obtained, and this requirement was met. This is a good deal in the eyes of other heirs, after all, Pellett has made an assessment and these manuscripts are basically of no value. Even so, Conduit still took out £2,000 as a guarantee to ensure that if any content in the manuscript is published in the future, other heirs can still make a profit.
"Isaac Newton: The Last Magician" (2013) Stills.
Like Aubrey, John Conduit also intends to write a biography for Newton.He admires Newton because he is not only his uncle and father-in-law, but also his friend and supporter. In the months after Newton's death, Conduit had been inciting Bernard de Fontenelle to write a pertinent eulogy for Newton. Fontenelle was the president of the French Academy of Sciences at that time. The French Academy of Sciences was equivalent to the Royal Society of the United Kingdom. The two were both leaders of their respective institutions and had similar status. When Newton was alive, the French refused to recognize his scientific achievements. Isn't it a good idea to restore Newton's reputation on the European continent, consolidate his reputation in the UK, and invite a friendly Frenchman to write an article of praise?
In fact, just a week after Newton's death, Conduit wrote several letters to Fontenelle, asking him to write a eulogy, and revealed that he was preparing to write a biography of Newton. Fontenelle quickly replied, asking for details about Newton's life. Did he show extraordinary talent when he was a child? What books does he like the most? How was he in his state when he passed away? Conduit answered one by one, full of unconcealed praise for Newton. He wrote that Newton's "every word and action is impeccable", "in dealing with people, he is always humble and polite, and amiable, even when dealing with his servants, and never despises others' flaws." He has "a gentle heart, and sometimes when he hears a sad story, he will shed tears." He hated the atrocities that tortured humans and animals, and "treat all living things well is the subject he thinks most often." Newton was extremely generous in treating others, "He acted generously without any flaunt or vanity. He was always hospitality and chose the right occasion to entertain his friends."
Although Conduit added a lot of information, the final eulogy did not satisfy him. In Conduit's view, perhaps out of loyalty to France, Fontenelle's positive comments on Newton were too stingy. In this regard, Conduit wrote that Fontenel "had not said a fair word about the talent and personality of this great man, because it was this great man who obscured the glory of their great hero Descartes."
Conduit strives to do better. He intends to establish an eternal monument for Newton in the form of a biography. For this reason, he turned his attention to Newton's manuscript for the first time, trying to find something out from it. Although he described the content of some manuscripts and listed a list of different types of notebooks, he did not comprehensively classify and organize. Conduit is more concerned with the anecdotes. These short stories are treasures of biographers, and often make the characters live in flesh and blood and fascinating to read. He has a unique eye and the anecdotes he has collected are still vivid and interesting even if he reads them today. He visited many Newton's relatives and friends and talked to them. Of course, when Newton was alive, the two of them often chatted, and these became his material to write a monumental biography.
At that time, biography was still a rare new thing. It is generally believed that only the life of a saint is worth learning. Conduit felt the need to defend his writing, and his defense showed how extraordinary his vision was at the time. He admitted that even historians who write Roman history often question the value of recording the lives of ancient emperors. Some people may think that "in a plain and calm style, he will inevitably be boring no matter how interesting the parties think it is. Compared with historical events that describe grand scenes, it is far from impressing ordinary readers." Conduyi had no choice. Newton had no passionate deeds. He had been reserved and taciturn all his life, studying quietly, and stayed away from the public hustle and bustle. This really makes his biography very dull.
However, Conduit found a whole new reason for this new type of biography: it was an era of rapid growth in human knowledge (it is now called " scientific revolution "), and Newton contributed a lot. He wrote that thinking about the "sacred crystallization of thought" achieved by people like Newton, like "following the footsteps of the conqueror and traveling through the bloody and chaotic battlefield", can greatly satisfy the mind.Compared with those brutal war leaders, Newton was more qualified to be a role model in life. His life was "diligent, persistent, humble, pious, and without any evil thoughts", which reflected the "universal virtue". Compared with Caesar and Alexander , it should be emulated by the world. However, pious virtue is not the entire reason for writing a biography for Newton. As a natural philosopher, it was Newton who proposed a new ideological system that greatly expanded the territory of human thought. He was undoubtedly a "ideological conqueror." With those new discoveries that shocked the world, he was enough to enjoy a place in the pantheon where great men were worshipped.
Conduit recorded the memories of relatives and friends to Newton
Conduit recorded the memories of relatives and friends to Newton. He gathered around anecdotes about Newton's life, including some big names, such as Earl Halifax, Dr. Arbuthnot, Richard Bentley - he had many letter exchanges with Newton, and it was he who urged Newton to clarify the religious implications of his gravitational theory. In addition, there are Newton's children and nephews, naturally including his wife and his niece Catherine, who has half the blood relationship with Newton.
In his later years, Newton accepted an exclusive interview with Conduit. He recalled some childhood events, which were from nearly 75 years ago. These stories form the core of all future narratives about Newton's life and personality. The story about his birth and his luck surviving should be the earliest interesting story that happened to Newton. It is said that Newton was very small when he was born, so small that he could just put it in a small pot of quart (English quart equals 1.1365 liters. - Translator's note). Seeing that he was so weak, the women who should have told him good news "sit down on the steps by the roadside, saying that there was no need to rush to report the news, because they were sure that by the time they came back, the child would be dead."
Despite being so fragile at birth, Newton gradually (in Conduit's words, "unswerable") began to climb the ladder of human thought and never took a step back. He was born in a poor family and was often bullied in school. Once, he was "kicked into the stomach by another boy, and the pain was unbearable". He beat him back and taught the child a lesson. Soon he defeated him again with his academic performance, realizing a double-physical and mental revenge. From then on, he began to rank among the top in the class. According to Conduit, from a very young age, Newton learned to write and used writing to learn other skills. He hoped to be "the master of his pen."
Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 - March 31, 1727), Jazz, President of the Royal Society of England, a famous British physicist and mathematician, an encyclopedic "all-rounder", author of "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" and "Optical".
's early writing and sketching works reflect his extremely active thinking. "There is an old pocket book with his name and date of 1659. In this small book, he wrote down some paintings and methods of making paint." Newton seemed to have never put down the pen in his hand. Conduit revealed that on the walls of Grantham's hometown, the graffiti left by Newton during his childhood were painted, "there were birds, beasts, figures, and carefully designed ships. Many people remember that Newton had painted some landscape paintings and figure paintings", including the beheaded King Charles I, John Dorn, and "Mr Stokes, the teacher he admired the most."
During college, Newton established good study habits and mastered excellent research skills. He developed a good habit that affected his life - taking notes. He "almost always keeps his writing and his writing." His first notes were written in the first year of undergraduate studies, and he has always adhered to this habit since then. In a very small notebook, he recorded a series of "certain philosophical questions" that formed the thinking framework for his life. Decades later, he still often mentioned this notes from his youth.During this period, he mastered basic research skills, allowing him to be able to be skilled in many fields in the future, such as natural philosophy , alchemy, theology, church history, etc. His abilities are not limited to superb mathematical skills or keen insights in physics and optics, but include some more basic abilities: such as the ability to think critically about a text and the ability to take notes that lay the foundation for his creative work.
Newton's habit of taking notes was formed in the 1660s, but until 1727, in Conduit's view, this method was still very novel. He felt it necessary to explain in detail how Newton "was used to recording every experience he read and summed it up into a longer summary." It can be said that from the beginning of his academic career, Newton had already possessed the qualities of perseverance, efficiency and productivity. "The large stack of hand-written, scattered and dirty manuscripts left behind him...some of them will be copied repeatedly six or seven times" is the best portrayal of Newton's diligent work throughout his life.
Conduit found that a lot of the content in the manuscript was repeated, and he believed that this needed an explanation. He tried to beautify Newton in every way, so he explained that this was a great proof of Newton's tough character: he was constantly thinking and striving for perfection in the process of copying a paragraph of text repeatedly. It is necessary to point out that later researchers also noticed this feature of the manuscript, but their explanations are not all so positive.
Conduit also mentioned some damage to the manuscript. Once, Newton was in a hurry to go out to see the guests and hurriedly forgot the candle on the manuscript he had just written. When he came back, he found that the candle had lit the manuscript, which recorded his work in mathematics and optics. Before being promoted to factory director, Newton served as the supervisor of the Mint. He worked in this position for four years, and at that time, he would attend in person whenever there was a trial of a counterfeiter. He wrote a lot of official documents while in office, and later burned all of them with others, which were "a large box of documents he wrote in his own hands." Finally, Conduit recorded Newton's scene at his death. The great man was sober and as if he could continue writing. His "thirsty and slender hand" was steady until the last moment of his life.
Conduit tried his best to maintain the name behind Newton
Conduit tried to classify and edit some manuscripts. Newton, for example, had a manuscript entitled "The Original of Monarchies", a 70-page work that Conduit took a lot of notes, detailed the contents of each page, and (as modern editors do) recorded where Newton added or deleted. He was keenly aware that these additions and deletions were undoubtedly the best evidence to understand the changes in Newton's thoughts. This idea of his is far beyond his time.
Regarding publication, Conduit also showed his unique thoughtfulness. While Newton’s manuscript itself is enough to inspire interest, it does not mean it is worth publishing. To get a reasonable conclusion, he drew a table. One side of the table lists reasons for publication and the other side lists reasons for not publishing. Reasons for opposing publication include that some of the contents of the manuscript have been published in the Chronology, and some unpublished contents are "very incomplete" according to Conduit's statement. The reason for supporting publication is that most of the manuscripts are intact and have not been published yet. More importantly, they are Newton's manuscripts, because "no matter how incomplete these manuscripts are, they must contain some valuable content to the public."
In Conduit's view, as long as they are the words left by Newton, there must be some value, which is quite convincing. In fact, shortly after he wrote these words, “The Origin of Monarchy” was published. But this is a very rare case. In the past nearly a hundred years, this thick stack of manuscripts never had the opportunity to be published. Even today, three centuries later, most manuscripts are still obscure and unknown, no different from the time of Conduit.Conduit is the closest person to Newton, and it was he who proposed to erect a monument for this British national hero. However, he ultimately failed to fulfill his ambitions, he did not complete the writing of his biography, and could not even make any substantial progress. He only left some unfinished scribbled notes, which were not enough to portray Newton's brilliant life. Some of the contents in the manuscript, Conduit doesn't need to read them, and they know what they are: that is Newton's lifelong exploration of Christian faith. Although this part is extremely complex and controversial, it boils down to the following: Newton believed that Christian doctrine was maliciously tampered with by the godfathers in the early 4th century AD, who gave Christ an equal person in the Trinity doctrine. In Newton's view, a complete, true church history will reveal a fact that has been long forgotten or never discovered: Christ is subordinate to God the Father. This belief in his is called "anti-Trinitarianism" because it denies the Trinity theory that recognizes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From the perspective of the Anglican Church at that time, this idea is an heresy that must be ignored.
"Newton's Dark Secret" (2005) poster.
If people find that the so-called father of enlightenment reason is actually a paranoid pagan, full of violent and bloody descriptions of modern Protestantism, hateful and vicious attacks, and worried about the fate of mankind's redemption, what consequences will this have? Newton is a Christian, undoubtedly a "genius". However, neither Conduit nor others who participated in the manuscripts have any interest in making these shocking religious views public. At that time, people with heretic beliefs would be sent to prison and sometimes sentenced to death penalty .
Although similar sentences have not appeared in England for a long time, the last case of stolen for the promotion of "anti-Trinitarianism" occurred in 1612, in Scotland, Thomas Aikenhead was hanged in 1697 for spreading heretical ideas about the incarnation of Christ. Although this part of the manuscripts embarrassed and even panicked Newton's supporters, the large number and messy content of the manuscripts actually played a protective role. There are very few people who can understand the Principles, and even fewer people who can understand the religious manuscripts containing a large number of citations in history and chronology, chemical manuscripts that mix quantitative language and symbolic terms. More importantly, the entire manuscript is chaotic, disordered, misplaced, and missing pages abound. Unless you have an extremely sharp mind, you can't crack it at all.
Conduit eventually gave up writing the biography for more than one reason. Perhaps the materials he collected were too messy; perhaps he was worried that his biography was not good enough and was not worthy of Newton's name, which caused huge pressure; perhaps it was because he was constantly running to protect the interests of his inheritors, squeezing his writing time; perhaps the content in some manuscripts would shame Newton after his death, make him feel embarrassed, etc. All these factors combined and eventually made him choose to give up.
As the heir to the manuscript, Conduit tried his best to maintain the name behind Newton. He had the motivation and means to keep the secret of the manuscript. He hid the manuscript in his home to keep it away from the gaze of the outside world. Conduit died in 1737 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, just to the right of Newton's Mausoleum. Two years later, Catherine also passed away and was buried with her husband. Conduit was the closest person to Newton during his lifetime, and he remained the same after his death. Whenever people come to pay tribute to Newton, they always pay tribute to him. Not far away, the manuscripts that record Newton's complex beliefs and broad interests disappeared from the public's sight, waiting for the next time to be reopened.
Original author/[English] Sarah Delhi
excerpt/He Ye
edit/Zhang Jin
introduction proofreading/Chen Diyan
Aubrey was one of the first people to have a sense of manuscript preservation, and in his opinion, the collection and preservation of famous manuscripts was both moral and philosophical necessity. He found, frustrated, that his fellow countrymen had no interest in it. Despite this, he still overcomes many obstacles and persists in collecting: various manuscripts, personal belongings, portraits, and life anecdotes. He believes that these objects not only demonstrate the great achievements of the great man during his lifetime, but also provide vivid materials for future generations to learn history.Aubry shouted loudly, how urgent and important the collection work is, but the people around him are still indifferent, which made him feel deeply desperate. He has a collection of manuscripts by scientific masters, including Francis Bacon, Thomas Harriot, astronomer and mathematician John Dee. His curiosity seemed to be endless. He didn't understand why his strong desire for knowledge could not infect the people around him. Don't they want to understand the reasons why they achieved success through the manuscripts and handwriting of celebrities? He noticed that many people did not explain how to deal with their collections during their lifetime, resulting in the displacement of precious private collections. In a letter to their friend Anthony Wood, his regret was beyond words: "Oh, Anthony, look at what those executors and widows did. Which of those collections was not what their owners loved during their lifetime! People should be more public, move their hands, open their eyes, and protect these heritages."
Aubrey often warned members of the Royal Society to pay attention to keeping and publishing the manuscripts of scholars. He did his best to donate many books and specimens to the libraries and museums of the Royal Society, and also donated a batch of books to Oxford University Library , Ashmore Museum , and Shinjuku College. But this still cannot satisfy him. He often lamented that people are always careless and indifferent, allowing precious pieces of knowledge to slip away from their fingers. Throughout his life, Aubrey was always particularly sensitive to things that were both valuable and fleeting. He understood that if not recorded properly, even the greatest human achievements would eventually be forgotten.
Aubry once rescued the manuscript of mathematician Seth Ward, Bishop of Salisbury. He complained that he had snatched the manuscripts “from a bunch of cooks” and they were planning to use them to make pies. It is not just the chef who is annoying. Aubrey reminds people to be careful of the "enthusiastic housewives". They have no awe of manuscripts and always use the best of their own: to wrap fresh fish, "used as waste paper, sold to cardboard makers by pound", load firearms, or put them under "tailors' scissors." It is not difficult to see from Aubrey's records that people were generally indifferent to their manuscripts at that time, and they would not ask someone to keep them properly before their death. Fortunately, a large number of Newton's manuscripts have been preserved almost intact to this day. Like most historical events, there are both accidents and necessities.
Conduit intends to establish a monument for Newton in the form of a biography
Conduit's ability to inherit the manuscript is very complicated. Newton died as the director of the Mint. According to the rules at the time, all newly minted coins were guaranteed by the director's personal reputation. In other words, when Newton died, he was nominally burdened with debts equal to the total amount of currency issued by the British state. John Conduit took the initiative to take over the debt, that is, once he found a new currency that was insufficient, he would need to pay out of his own pocket and compensate him. As a condition of taking risks, Conduit demanded that all manuscripts left by Newton be obtained, and this requirement was met. This is a good deal in the eyes of other heirs, after all, Pellett has made an assessment and these manuscripts are basically of no value. Even so, Conduit still took out £2,000 as a guarantee to ensure that if any content in the manuscript is published in the future, other heirs can still make a profit.
"Isaac Newton: The Last Magician" (2013) Stills.
Like Aubrey, John Conduit also intends to write a biography for Newton.He admires Newton because he is not only his uncle and father-in-law, but also his friend and supporter. In the months after Newton's death, Conduit had been inciting Bernard de Fontenelle to write a pertinent eulogy for Newton. Fontenelle was the president of the French Academy of Sciences at that time. The French Academy of Sciences was equivalent to the Royal Society of the United Kingdom. The two were both leaders of their respective institutions and had similar status. When Newton was alive, the French refused to recognize his scientific achievements. Isn't it a good idea to restore Newton's reputation on the European continent, consolidate his reputation in the UK, and invite a friendly Frenchman to write an article of praise?
In fact, just a week after Newton's death, Conduit wrote several letters to Fontenelle, asking him to write a eulogy, and revealed that he was preparing to write a biography of Newton. Fontenelle quickly replied, asking for details about Newton's life. Did he show extraordinary talent when he was a child? What books does he like the most? How was he in his state when he passed away? Conduit answered one by one, full of unconcealed praise for Newton. He wrote that Newton's "every word and action is impeccable", "in dealing with people, he is always humble and polite, and amiable, even when dealing with his servants, and never despises others' flaws." He has "a gentle heart, and sometimes when he hears a sad story, he will shed tears." He hated the atrocities that tortured humans and animals, and "treat all living things well is the subject he thinks most often." Newton was extremely generous in treating others, "He acted generously without any flaunt or vanity. He was always hospitality and chose the right occasion to entertain his friends."
Although Conduit added a lot of information, the final eulogy did not satisfy him. In Conduit's view, perhaps out of loyalty to France, Fontenelle's positive comments on Newton were too stingy. In this regard, Conduit wrote that Fontenel "had not said a fair word about the talent and personality of this great man, because it was this great man who obscured the glory of their great hero Descartes."
Conduit strives to do better. He intends to establish an eternal monument for Newton in the form of a biography. For this reason, he turned his attention to Newton's manuscript for the first time, trying to find something out from it. Although he described the content of some manuscripts and listed a list of different types of notebooks, he did not comprehensively classify and organize. Conduit is more concerned with the anecdotes. These short stories are treasures of biographers, and often make the characters live in flesh and blood and fascinating to read. He has a unique eye and the anecdotes he has collected are still vivid and interesting even if he reads them today. He visited many Newton's relatives and friends and talked to them. Of course, when Newton was alive, the two of them often chatted, and these became his material to write a monumental biography.
At that time, biography was still a rare new thing. It is generally believed that only the life of a saint is worth learning. Conduit felt the need to defend his writing, and his defense showed how extraordinary his vision was at the time. He admitted that even historians who write Roman history often question the value of recording the lives of ancient emperors. Some people may think that "in a plain and calm style, he will inevitably be boring no matter how interesting the parties think it is. Compared with historical events that describe grand scenes, it is far from impressing ordinary readers." Conduyi had no choice. Newton had no passionate deeds. He had been reserved and taciturn all his life, studying quietly, and stayed away from the public hustle and bustle. This really makes his biography very dull.
However, Conduit found a whole new reason for this new type of biography: it was an era of rapid growth in human knowledge (it is now called " scientific revolution "), and Newton contributed a lot. He wrote that thinking about the "sacred crystallization of thought" achieved by people like Newton, like "following the footsteps of the conqueror and traveling through the bloody and chaotic battlefield", can greatly satisfy the mind.Compared with those brutal war leaders, Newton was more qualified to be a role model in life. His life was "diligent, persistent, humble, pious, and without any evil thoughts", which reflected the "universal virtue". Compared with Caesar and Alexander , it should be emulated by the world. However, pious virtue is not the entire reason for writing a biography for Newton. As a natural philosopher, it was Newton who proposed a new ideological system that greatly expanded the territory of human thought. He was undoubtedly a "ideological conqueror." With those new discoveries that shocked the world, he was enough to enjoy a place in the pantheon where great men were worshipped.
Conduit recorded the memories of relatives and friends to Newton
Conduit recorded the memories of relatives and friends to Newton. He gathered around anecdotes about Newton's life, including some big names, such as Earl Halifax, Dr. Arbuthnot, Richard Bentley - he had many letter exchanges with Newton, and it was he who urged Newton to clarify the religious implications of his gravitational theory. In addition, there are Newton's children and nephews, naturally including his wife and his niece Catherine, who has half the blood relationship with Newton.
In his later years, Newton accepted an exclusive interview with Conduit. He recalled some childhood events, which were from nearly 75 years ago. These stories form the core of all future narratives about Newton's life and personality. The story about his birth and his luck surviving should be the earliest interesting story that happened to Newton. It is said that Newton was very small when he was born, so small that he could just put it in a small pot of quart (English quart equals 1.1365 liters. - Translator's note). Seeing that he was so weak, the women who should have told him good news "sit down on the steps by the roadside, saying that there was no need to rush to report the news, because they were sure that by the time they came back, the child would be dead."
Despite being so fragile at birth, Newton gradually (in Conduit's words, "unswerable") began to climb the ladder of human thought and never took a step back. He was born in a poor family and was often bullied in school. Once, he was "kicked into the stomach by another boy, and the pain was unbearable". He beat him back and taught the child a lesson. Soon he defeated him again with his academic performance, realizing a double-physical and mental revenge. From then on, he began to rank among the top in the class. According to Conduit, from a very young age, Newton learned to write and used writing to learn other skills. He hoped to be "the master of his pen."
Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 - March 31, 1727), Jazz, President of the Royal Society of England, a famous British physicist and mathematician, an encyclopedic "all-rounder", author of "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" and "Optical".
's early writing and sketching works reflect his extremely active thinking. "There is an old pocket book with his name and date of 1659. In this small book, he wrote down some paintings and methods of making paint." Newton seemed to have never put down the pen in his hand. Conduit revealed that on the walls of Grantham's hometown, the graffiti left by Newton during his childhood were painted, "there were birds, beasts, figures, and carefully designed ships. Many people remember that Newton had painted some landscape paintings and figure paintings", including the beheaded King Charles I, John Dorn, and "Mr Stokes, the teacher he admired the most."
During college, Newton established good study habits and mastered excellent research skills. He developed a good habit that affected his life - taking notes. He "almost always keeps his writing and his writing." His first notes were written in the first year of undergraduate studies, and he has always adhered to this habit since then. In a very small notebook, he recorded a series of "certain philosophical questions" that formed the thinking framework for his life. Decades later, he still often mentioned this notes from his youth.During this period, he mastered basic research skills, allowing him to be able to be skilled in many fields in the future, such as natural philosophy , alchemy, theology, church history, etc. His abilities are not limited to superb mathematical skills or keen insights in physics and optics, but include some more basic abilities: such as the ability to think critically about a text and the ability to take notes that lay the foundation for his creative work.
Newton's habit of taking notes was formed in the 1660s, but until 1727, in Conduit's view, this method was still very novel. He felt it necessary to explain in detail how Newton "was used to recording every experience he read and summed it up into a longer summary." It can be said that from the beginning of his academic career, Newton had already possessed the qualities of perseverance, efficiency and productivity. "The large stack of hand-written, scattered and dirty manuscripts left behind him...some of them will be copied repeatedly six or seven times" is the best portrayal of Newton's diligent work throughout his life.
Conduit found that a lot of the content in the manuscript was repeated, and he believed that this needed an explanation. He tried to beautify Newton in every way, so he explained that this was a great proof of Newton's tough character: he was constantly thinking and striving for perfection in the process of copying a paragraph of text repeatedly. It is necessary to point out that later researchers also noticed this feature of the manuscript, but their explanations are not all so positive.
Conduit also mentioned some damage to the manuscript. Once, Newton was in a hurry to go out to see the guests and hurriedly forgot the candle on the manuscript he had just written. When he came back, he found that the candle had lit the manuscript, which recorded his work in mathematics and optics. Before being promoted to factory director, Newton served as the supervisor of the Mint. He worked in this position for four years, and at that time, he would attend in person whenever there was a trial of a counterfeiter. He wrote a lot of official documents while in office, and later burned all of them with others, which were "a large box of documents he wrote in his own hands." Finally, Conduit recorded Newton's scene at his death. The great man was sober and as if he could continue writing. His "thirsty and slender hand" was steady until the last moment of his life.
Conduit tried his best to maintain the name behind Newton
Conduit tried to classify and edit some manuscripts. Newton, for example, had a manuscript entitled "The Original of Monarchies", a 70-page work that Conduit took a lot of notes, detailed the contents of each page, and (as modern editors do) recorded where Newton added or deleted. He was keenly aware that these additions and deletions were undoubtedly the best evidence to understand the changes in Newton's thoughts. This idea of his is far beyond his time.
Regarding publication, Conduit also showed his unique thoughtfulness. While Newton’s manuscript itself is enough to inspire interest, it does not mean it is worth publishing. To get a reasonable conclusion, he drew a table. One side of the table lists reasons for publication and the other side lists reasons for not publishing. Reasons for opposing publication include that some of the contents of the manuscript have been published in the Chronology, and some unpublished contents are "very incomplete" according to Conduit's statement. The reason for supporting publication is that most of the manuscripts are intact and have not been published yet. More importantly, they are Newton's manuscripts, because "no matter how incomplete these manuscripts are, they must contain some valuable content to the public."
In Conduit's view, as long as they are the words left by Newton, there must be some value, which is quite convincing. In fact, shortly after he wrote these words, “The Origin of Monarchy” was published. But this is a very rare case. In the past nearly a hundred years, this thick stack of manuscripts never had the opportunity to be published. Even today, three centuries later, most manuscripts are still obscure and unknown, no different from the time of Conduit.Conduit is the closest person to Newton, and it was he who proposed to erect a monument for this British national hero. However, he ultimately failed to fulfill his ambitions, he did not complete the writing of his biography, and could not even make any substantial progress. He only left some unfinished scribbled notes, which were not enough to portray Newton's brilliant life. Some of the contents in the manuscript, Conduit doesn't need to read them, and they know what they are: that is Newton's lifelong exploration of Christian faith. Although this part is extremely complex and controversial, it boils down to the following: Newton believed that Christian doctrine was maliciously tampered with by the godfathers in the early 4th century AD, who gave Christ an equal person in the Trinity doctrine. In Newton's view, a complete, true church history will reveal a fact that has been long forgotten or never discovered: Christ is subordinate to God the Father. This belief in his is called "anti-Trinitarianism" because it denies the Trinity theory that recognizes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From the perspective of the Anglican Church at that time, this idea is an heresy that must be ignored.
"Newton's Dark Secret" (2005) poster.
If people find that the so-called father of enlightenment reason is actually a paranoid pagan, full of violent and bloody descriptions of modern Protestantism, hateful and vicious attacks, and worried about the fate of mankind's redemption, what consequences will this have? Newton is a Christian, undoubtedly a "genius". However, neither Conduit nor others who participated in the manuscripts have any interest in making these shocking religious views public. At that time, people with heretic beliefs would be sent to prison and sometimes sentenced to death penalty .
Although similar sentences have not appeared in England for a long time, the last case of stolen for the promotion of "anti-Trinitarianism" occurred in 1612, in Scotland, Thomas Aikenhead was hanged in 1697 for spreading heretical ideas about the incarnation of Christ. Although this part of the manuscripts embarrassed and even panicked Newton's supporters, the large number and messy content of the manuscripts actually played a protective role. There are very few people who can understand the Principles, and even fewer people who can understand the religious manuscripts containing a large number of citations in history and chronology, chemical manuscripts that mix quantitative language and symbolic terms. More importantly, the entire manuscript is chaotic, disordered, misplaced, and missing pages abound. Unless you have an extremely sharp mind, you can't crack it at all.
Conduit eventually gave up writing the biography for more than one reason. Perhaps the materials he collected were too messy; perhaps he was worried that his biography was not good enough and was not worthy of Newton's name, which caused huge pressure; perhaps it was because he was constantly running to protect the interests of his inheritors, squeezing his writing time; perhaps the content in some manuscripts would shame Newton after his death, make him feel embarrassed, etc. All these factors combined and eventually made him choose to give up.
As the heir to the manuscript, Conduit tried his best to maintain the name behind Newton. He had the motivation and means to keep the secret of the manuscript. He hid the manuscript in his home to keep it away from the gaze of the outside world. Conduit died in 1737 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, just to the right of Newton's Mausoleum. Two years later, Catherine also passed away and was buried with her husband. Conduit was the closest person to Newton during his lifetime, and he remained the same after his death. Whenever people come to pay tribute to Newton, they always pay tribute to him. Not far away, the manuscripts that record Newton's complex beliefs and broad interests disappeared from the public's sight, waiting for the next time to be reopened.
Original author/[English] Sarah Delhi
excerpt/He Ye
edit/Zhang Jin
introduction proofreading/Chen Diyan
