Posted on 06/17/2007 7:26:12 PM PDT by voletti
JERUSALEM: Renowned British scientist Sir Isaac Newton, the father of modern physics and astronomy, predicted the world would end in 2060. He made the prediction in a 1704 letter that went on show in Jerusalem on Sunday.
A famed rationalist, who secured a royal exemption from the ordination in the Church of England that was normally expected of academics of his day so he would not have to follow its teachings, Newton nonetheless based his prediction on a Biblical text.
Working from verses in the Book of Daniel, the elaborator of the classical laws of gravity, motion and optics argued that the world would end 1,260 years after the foundation of the Holy Roman empire in western Europe in 800 AD.
The letter, on show at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University as part of an exhibition called “Newton’s Secrets”, is part of an array of papers of the British scientist bequeathed to the institution by a wealthy collector of scientific manuscripts.
The university said it was the first time the letter had been put on public show since 1969. Newton’s late 17th century work at Cambridge University was the foundation stone of modern science until the discovery of relativity and quantum mechanics in the last century.
But it has long been known that the ground-breaking physicist from Grantham, England, also took a keen interest in superstitions of his day that have long since fallen foul of modern science. Newton spent four years in the 1670s preparing a work on alchemy, the notion that base metals can be turned into gold.
Am not that much of an expert on Newton so I don’t know if you are pulling my leg, or not.
I don’t doubt he was interested in chemistry. I have a hard time believing that he was that interested in gold. Gold to him, was The Bible and the truths therein.
Plausible enough, to me.
Thx.
Hmmmmm.
And he still lived to a ripe old age.
Wow! I will be 91. Both of us can watch together. It will be a blast I am sure.
Just get yourself a nice red giant star. However, transportations costs might pinch the profit margins.
LOL. If it’s the last day on earth; I doubt that laws will matter much. I would really like a mimosa.
Ok Cubs fans, you only have 53 years of futility left.
Newton was also off the beam somewhat on optics.
“So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 2059!”
He was Chancellor of the Exchequer. In that post he sent an hundred men to the gallows for counterfeiting.
Does Gore also base his global warming “we’re all gonna die” scenario on the same 2060 date?
Interesting.
Didn’t know he’d held that post.
But wasn’t he . . . rather disinterested in personal wealth except as it afforded him the means to study and do experiments?
Can’t say. He had a lot of free time, so he must have done all right.
In 2012 I’ll be, umm, 52.
best movie ever...
Yes, it can happen quickly, more quickly than we all hope, I’m sure. I believe God WILL reveal the time to the spirit-filled believers looking for His coming. This will happen close to that time period. We don’t know now but I believe we will when the time comes. We’ll see the times approaching for sure but the Holy Spirit will not leave us foundering and wondering. There will be warnings. Love, Mxxx
Continuing in a decidedly sniffy tone, he wrote: "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail."
Hold it!....the world will end in about eight years....Al Gore said so!......he’s the true prophet...just ask Leonardo DiCaprio...he can’t be wrong...he’s so dreamy!
If I’m still alive by then, I’ll be 83. So bring it on.
Lets see...I’d be 86...hmm...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.