A Briefer History of Time (16 page)
Isaac Newton
ISAAC NEWTON WAS NOT A PLEASANT man. His relations with other academics were notorious, with most of his later life spent embroiled in heated disputes. Following publication of
Principia Mathematica—
surely the most influential book ever written in physics—Newton rose rapidly into public prominence. He was appointed president of the Royal Society and became the first scientist ever to be knighted.
Newton soon clashed with the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, who had earlier provided him with much-needed data for
Principia
but was now withholding information that Newton wanted. Newton would not take no for an answer: he had himself appointed to the governing body of the Royal Observatory and then tried to force immediate publication of the data. Eventually he arranged for Flamsteed’s work to be seized and prepared for publication by Flamsteed’s mortal enemy, Edmond Halley. But Flamsteed took the case to court and, in the nick of time, won a court order preventing distribution of the stolen work. Newton was incensed and sought his revenge by systematically deleting all references to Flamsteed in later editions of
Principia
A more serious dispute arose with the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz. Both Leibniz and Newton had independently developed a branch of mathematics called calculus, which underlies most of modern physics. Although we now know that Newton discovered calculus years before Leibniz, he published his work much later. A major row ensued over who had been first, with scientists vigorously defending both contenders. It is remarkable, however, that most of the articles appearing in defense of Newton were originally written by his own hand, though published under the names of friends! As the row grew, Leibniz made the mistake of appealing to the Roy al Society to resolve the dispute. Newton, as president, appointed an "impartial" committee to investigate, coincidentally consisting entirely of his friends! But that was not all: Newton then wrote the committee’s report himself and had the Royal Society publish it, officially accusing Leibniz of plagiarism. Still unsatisfied, he then wrote an anonymous review of the report in the Royal Society’s own periodical. Following the death of Leibniz, Newton is reported to have declared that he had taken great satisfaction in "breaking Leibniz’s heart."
During the period of these two disputes, Newton had already left Cambridge and academe. He had been active in anti-Catholic politics at Cambridge and later in Parliament, and was rewarded eventually with the lucrative post of Warden of the Royal Mint. Here he used his talents for deviousness and vitriol in a more socially acceptable way, successfully conducting a major campaign against counterfeiting, even sending several men to their death on the gallows.
About the Authors
STEPHEN HAWKING is Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge; his other books for the general reader include the essay collection
Black Holes and Baby Universes
and
The
Universe in aNutshell.
LEONARD MLODINOW, his collaborator for this new edition, has taught at Caltech, written for
Star Trek: The Next Generation,
and is the author of
Euclid’s Window
and
Feynman’s Rainbow
and the coauthor of the children’s book series The Kids of Einstein Elementary.
ALSO BY STEPHEN HAWKING
A Brief History of Time
Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essay
s
The Illustrated A Brief History of Time
The Universe in a Nutshell
ALSO BY LEONARD MLODINOW
Euclid’s Window
Feynman’s Rainbow
A BRIEFER HISTORY OF TIME A Bantam Book/ October 2005
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by Stephen Hawking
Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hawking, S W (Stephen W)
A briefer history of time / Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.
p cm.
Includes index.
1. Cosmology. I Mlodinow, Leonard, 1954— II Title.
QB981.H3773 2005
523.1—dc22
2005042949
www.bantamdell.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-41784-8
v3.0