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If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Isaac Newton, letter to Robert Hooke, 1676

Science

The story behind the card

Newton wrote this in a letter to Robert Hooke dated 5 February 1676, during a tense exchange over their rival theories of light and colour. The image was already old: John of Salisbury recorded in 1159 that the scholar Bernard of Chartres likened his generation to dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, able to see further thanks to those before them. Some historians suspect a dig at Hooke, who was short, but there is no proof. Newton (1643–1727) went on to set out the laws of motion and gravity.

Türkçe oku
Daha uzağı gördüysem, devlerin omuzlarında durduğum içindir.
Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke'a mektup, 1676

Newton bu cümleyi Robert Hooke'a yazdığı 5 Şubat 1676 tarihli bir mektupta kullandı; ikisi o sırada ışık ve renk üzerine birbirine rakip kuramlar yüzünden gergin bir yazışma içindeydi. İmge zaten eskiydi: John of Salisbury 1159'da, Chartres'lı bilgin Bernard'ın kendi kuşağını devlerin omuzlarındaki cücelere benzettiğini, öncekiler sayesinde daha uzağı görebildiklerini söylediğini aktarır. Bazı tarihçiler cümlede kısa boylu Hooke'a bir iğneleme görür, ama bunun kanıtı yoktur. Newton (1643–1727) sonradan hareket ve kütleçekim yasalarını ortaya koydu.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Isaac Newton
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