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.
Ha! I’ll be 93. We’ll be OLD.
Yeah! A party to end all parties, that one...
Or just a whole bunch of hydrogen, and some time...
No debate here, I’m still awe-struck by that whole concept; any one of those guys, and the relative pay scales... Well Gee Isaac, there’s this asteroid which may collide with us any time soon, any suggestions as to how to avoid this? Well get back to my agent, I’m working on this hip-hop thang right now....
Amazing, isn’t it that Newton was so far ahead 300 years ago. I once asked a mathematics professor what really was the point of studying things like functions of a complex variable and other courses I was taking. He told me it was so that we could describe the physics of 200 years form now. I also think it’s interesting that Newton made most of his discoveries as a young man, then spent the rest of his life studying things like the Bible.
At the rate we’re going I’d be suprised if we lasted that long.
Ain’t none of us getting out of here alive!
Each of us should live with our individual end in mind, and worry less about “the end of the world”.
2012 has been in several prophecies from trusted prophetic voices for a few years now. Interesting. Hope it’s 2112 and then I’ll be outta here long time!
2012 is what I kept hearing from the ART BELL show.
If the nanny-staters haven't outlawed it by then...
And people wonder why I refuse to quit smoking. Life was meant to live and enjoy. I’d quit smoking and get plowed into by a truck the next day.
Besides, Newton was a virgin until the day he died. Makes me wonder why...
It will be barred by sharia law...
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin
sharia is proof that allah hates us and wants us to suffer - nully
Isn't that where he started developing an interest in alchemy? Searching for codes in the Bible.
That's roughly my understanding as well.
Isaac Newton was fairly private about his faith - but he certainly was a God fearing man, and he he had a genuine belief that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and that a belief on HIM, and HIS Saving work, was necessary for Salvation...Where it gets fuzzier, and I've not found any direct quotes from Mr. Newton that would convince me one way or the other, is whether or not he accepted Trinitarianism and the Divinity of Jesus, or whether Mr. Newton tended towards the JW (Arianists, or Socianists) viewpoint...
I never heard of him having such an interest in alchemy.
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.
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He should have worked a little more in the New Testament.
“Build a lab ... look like you’re doing something ... and buy lots of Kruegerands.
melt ‘em down and voila !
GOLD !”
Better yet buy tungstun stamp it with a Kruegerand die and flash it with gold plate. They look , feel and weigh the same.
Yeah, he spent years trying to turn lead into gold. Everyone should have a hobby...
I’ll only be 108. What a tragedy to be cut down so young!
Yup, from what I’ve read he spent most of his time on the Bible and Alchemy. Remember that alchemy was essentially chemistry in those days, not a seperate science. I personally think Newton got interested in optics because of the Biblical account of the the creation of the rainbow after the flood. It’s the one example I know of where God made a permanent change in natural laws after creation, and I think it caught Newton’s attention. Personal theory of mine, very few facts to support it, which is just how I like I like my theories.
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