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The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

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Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#11

Post by hellofunk »

saagarjha wrote: post #9
hellofunk wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why don't we have coffee houses like this today? I'd go. You could argue that the web is the modern-day version of this No, I disagree. The web is not a replacement for normal social interaction. Zoom is not a replacement for in person meetings. The web does not replace an actual coffee shop, and social media or email does not replace a phone call. Unfortunately, our newest adult generation will never understand wh…

You do understand that pre-pandemic people still met face-to-face, right?

Notwithstanding your condescending tone of stating something obvious to me as a question, I’m not talking about the pandemic at all. The majority of communication between people is electronic now, messaging, email, the Internet as a whole. You have to go back nearly a couple of decades really to see teenagers (or many adults) who are not glued to their phones and primarily communicating in a digital way. And with regards to the OP, you certainly can’t replicate an intellectual coffeehouse digitally.

It’s unfortunate, because the raw improvised social interaction of recent eras past is forever gone, and the newer generations will never know what they missed.

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#12

Post by boomboomsubban »

computator wrote: post #4

> In England around 1650 coffee houses became the favourite meeting places of the English scientific intelligentsia, the astronomers, mathematicians and natural philosophers. Here, these savants would meet up to exchange ideas, discuss the latest scientific theories and pose challenges to each other. Why don't we have coffee houses like this today? I'd go. You could argue that the web is the modern-day version of thi…

They exist, though these kinds of events are not profitable so they can be hard to find. My best advice for finding one is to look for community run shops that offer live music, they sometimes have a variety of events. Local book stores are also a good place to check.

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#13

Post by ahazred8ta »

computator wrote: post #4

> In England around 1650 coffee houses became the favourite meeting places of the English scientific intelligentsia, the astronomers, mathematicians and natural philosophers. Here, these savants would meet up to exchange ideas, discuss the latest scientific theories and pose challenges to each other. Why don't we have coffee houses like this today? I'd go. You could argue that the web is the modern-day version of thi…

Beer and coffe themed Nerd Nite and Café Scientifique seminars https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd_Nite and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_Scientifique are common events in university towns. Lecturer: "Let me have the next slide... and a Guinness."

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#14

Post by baxtr »

computator wrote: post #4

> In England around 1650 coffee houses became the favourite meeting places of the English scientific intelligentsia, the astronomers, mathematicians and natural philosophers. Here, these savants would meet up to exchange ideas, discuss the latest scientific theories and pose challenges to each other. Why don't we have coffee houses like this today? I'd go. You could argue that the web is the modern-day version of thi…

You’re absolutely right. I’d go. Coffee shop as event places would be great to have. On a general note, I feel retail space usage has not been reinvented frequently. Apple being a big exception.

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#15

Post by dr_dshiv »

1/3 of London burned down in 1666. It was right at the end of the great plague of London. Wren and Hooke were put in charge of rebuilding the city.

Hooke was the "techie" who could actually engineer and build many of the experiments in the Royal Society. As founding member, he was made "chief curator", responsible for producing the empirical demonstrations.

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#16

Post by dr_dshiv »

Who did Isaac Newton credit with the discovery of the inverse square law of gravity? He specifically claimed it was Pythagoras, 6th century BC mathematician, who showed the inverse square relationship in the tension of a musical string and in the "harmony of the Spheres". The Pythagoreans are remembered for their belief that the world is made of math ("all is number") -- something that Newton did much to prove in his Principia.

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#17

Post by danarmak »

hellofunk wrote: post #3

Fascinating, I didn’t realize Newton was into his 40s before he made any specific contributions that led to his larger widespread influence. I just assumed that, like most of the greatest scientists in history, he was in his 20s when he changed the world.

He was ~ 23 years old in 1666 when he published on calculus, the dynamics of moving bodies, inverse-square universal gravitation, and optics (prisms).

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#18

Post by gnufx »

ahazred8ta wrote: post #13
computator wrote: post #4

> In England around 1650 coffee houses became the favourite meeting places of the English scientific intelligentsia, the astronomers, mathematicians and natural philosophers. Here, these savants would meet up to exchange ideas, discuss the latest scientific theories and pose challenges to each other. Why don't we have coffee houses like this today? I'd go. You could argue that the web is the modern-day version of thi…

Beer and coffe themed Nerd Nite and Café Scientifique seminars https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd_Nite and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_Scientifique are common events in university towns. Lecturer: "Let me have the next slide... and a Guinness."

Also things like https://pintofscience.co.uk/. One might have to be wary of assessing the merit of a talk on the basis of a liking of Guinness.

Re: The event that eventually led to Newton writing and publishing the Principia

#19

Post by op03 »

hellofunk wrote: post #5
computator wrote: post #4

> In England around 1650 coffee houses became the favourite meeting places of the English scientific intelligentsia, the astronomers, mathematicians and natural philosophers. Here, these savants would meet up to exchange ideas, discuss the latest scientific theories and pose challenges to each other. Why don't we have coffee houses like this today? I'd go. You could argue that the web is the modern-day version of thi…

> Why don't we have coffee houses like this today? I'd go. You could argue that the web is the modern-day version of this No, I disagree. The web is not a replacement for normal social interaction. Zoom is not a replacement for in person meetings. The web does not replace an actual coffee shop, and social media or email does not replace a phone call. Unfortunately, our newest adult generation will never understand wh…

Nothing like that.

And its not either or. You can have both side by side or just one or the other. It depends on your Personality type and Needs.

We are born unconscious of both. And take time to learn them. And learning about the needs and personality types of others and realizing there is a huge spectrum that has nothing to do with yours takes even longer.

So making contact with Beauty is never confined to how someone else did it. Its good to be aware of all the routes though. And sample as many as you can.

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