Bhupati Chakrabarti

… “You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants” … This is a very well-known part of a quote from Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). In a letter to his contemporary British Robert Hooke           (1635-1703) Newton wrote this in a letter in 1675. 

This is considered as a sign of a humble gesture on the part of a great scientist like Newton to his predecessor whose works helped him to move further. Newton had a very good relationship with Robert Hooke at that time — but later their relationship turned sour. Some science historians underline the above statement of Newton of apparent modesty as one with a sarcastic undertone. While this possibility may be contested, it cannot be totally ruled out considering that Newton was often not very open to acknowledging the accomplishments in the field of science by his contemporaries, or predecessors.

Galileo (1564-1642) is considered as the father of modern physical science to which the versatile talent of Newton could give a concrete shape. Either in the field of mathematics or what is now known as Physics, Newton’s contributions proved to be a game changer. Naturally an important question comes up. If Newton had begun his journey on an uncharted path, could he really have achieved what he had done, in reality?

However, if the standing on the ‘shoulders of the giants’ comment is taken with a positive connotation, who could have been the ‘giants’ of Newton. Well, there were quite a few ‘giants’ including some very well-known personalities whose contributions in mathematics and physics we are familiar with and are referred to for their independent important works.

The first name of course is that of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). Copernicus was born in continental Europe and his lifetime spanned a period even before the birth of Galileo, leave aside Newton. And we know how difficult it was for him to contradict the geocentric system and talk about the heliocentric system the planets belong to. The statement that “it is not the earth but the sun that lies at the centre of the then known universe” may appear to be very innocuous today…read more on NOPR