Editing Isaac Newton (section)

=== Recognition ===
[[File:Tumba de Isaac Newton - panoramio (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Newton's tomb monument in [[Westminster Abbey]] by [[John Michael Rysbrack]]]]

The mathematician and astronomer [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Joseph-Louis Lagrange]] frequently asserted that Newton was the greatest [[genius]] who ever lived,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrade |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Andrade |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQqLHyd8K0IC&pg=PA275 |title=The World of Mathematics: Volume 1 |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |year=2000 |isbn=9780486411538 |editor-last=Newman |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Newman |edition=Reprint |page=275 |chapter=Isaac Newton}}</ref> and once added that Newton was also "the most fortunate, for we cannot find more than once a system of the world to establish."<ref>Fred L. Wilson, ''History of Science: Newton'' citing: Delambre, M. "Notice sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. le comte J.L. Lagrange", ''Oeuvres de Lagrange'' I. Paris, 1867, p. xx.</ref> English poet [[Alexander Pope]] wrote the famous [[epitaph]]:

{{blockquote|Nature, and Nature's laws lay hid in night.<br />
God said, ''Let Newton be!'' and all was light.}}

But this was not allowed to be inscribed in Newton's monument at Westminster. The epitaph added is as follows:<ref name="westminster_newton">{{Cite news |last=Westminster Abbey |title=Sir Isaac Newton Scientist, Mathematician and Astronomer |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/ko/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/sir-isaac-newton |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809191135/https://www.westminster-abbey.org/ko/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/sir-isaac-newton |archive-date=9 August 2022 |access-date=19 January 2022 |newspaper=Westminster Abbey}}</ref>

{{blockquote|{{lang|la|H. S. E. ISAACUS NEWTON Eques Auratus, / Qui, animi vi prope divinâ, / Planetarum Motus, Figuras, / Cometarum semitas, Oceanique Aestus. Suâ Mathesi facem praeferente / Primus demonstravit: / Radiorum Lucis dissimilitudines, / Colorumque inde nascentium proprietates, / Quas nemo antea vel suspicatus erat, pervestigavit. / Naturae, Antiquitatis, S. Scripturae, / Sedulus, sagax, fidus Interpres / Dei O. M. Majestatem Philosophiâ asseruit, / Evangelij Simplicitatem Moribus expressit. / Sibi gratulentur Mortales, / Tale tantumque exstitisse / HUMANI GENERIS DECUS. / NAT. XXV DEC. A.D. MDCXLII. OBIIT. XX. MAR. MDCCXXVI,}}}}

which can be translated as follows:<ref name="westminster_newton" />

{{blockquote|Here is buried Isaac Newton, Knight, who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical principles peculiarly his own, explored the course and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, the tides of the sea, the dissimilarities in rays of light, and, what no other scholar has previously imagined, the properties of the colours thus produced. Diligent, sagacious and faithful, in his expositions of nature, antiquity and the holy Scriptures, he vindicated by his philosophy the majesty of God mighty and good, and expressed the simplicity of the Gospel in his manners. Mortals rejoice that there has existed such and so great an ornament of the human race! He was born on 25th December 1642, and died on 20th March 1726.}}

Newton has been called "the most influential figure in the history of Western science",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simmons |first=John G. |url=https://archive.org/details/scientific100ran0000simm/page/3 |title=The Scientific 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Scientists, Past and Present |publisher=Citadel Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8065-1749-0 |location=Secaucus, New Jersey |page=3}}</ref> and has been regarded as "the central figure in the history of science", who "more than anyone else is the source of our great confidence in the power of science."<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Rowlands |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRM0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=Newton and Modern Physics |publisher=[[World Scientific Publishing]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-78634-332-1 |location= |page=20}}</ref> ''[[New Scientist]]'' called Newton "the supreme genius and most enigmatic character in the history of science".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Isaac Newton |url=https://www.newscientist.com/people/isaac-newton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928162212/https://www.newscientist.com/people/isaac-newton/ |archive-date=28 September 2023 |access-date=28 September 2023 |website=New Scientist}}</ref> The philosopher and historian [[David Hume]] also declared that Newton was "the greatest and rarest genius that ever arose for the ornament and instruction of the species".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schmidt |first=Claudia M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSXlNY6xIMoC&pg=PA101 |title=David Hume: Reason in History |date=2003 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-271-02264-2 |location= |pages=101–102}}</ref> In his home of [[Monticello]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], a [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] and [[President of the United States]], kept portraits of [[John Locke]], [[Francis Bacon|Sir Francis Bacon]], and Newton, whom he described as "the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception", and who he credited with laying "the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical and Moral sciences".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hayes |first=Kevin J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eDQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA370 |title=The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson |date=2012 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |others=Thomas Jefferson |isbn=978-0-19-989583-0 |edition= |location= |pages=370 |language=en}}</ref>

Newton has further been called "the towering figure of the [[Scientific Revolution]]" and that "In a period rich with outstanding thinkers, Newton was simply the most outstanding." The polymath [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] labeled Newton's birth as the "[[Christmas]] of the modern age".<ref name=":9" /> In the Italian polymath [[Vilfredo Pareto]]'s estimation, Newton was the greatest human being who ever lived.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Jonathan H. |url=https://archive.org/details/emergenceofsocio0000turn_f1q7/page/366 |title=The Emergence of Sociological Theory |last2=Beeghley |first2=Leonard |last3=Powers |first3=Charles H. |date=1989 |publisher=Dorsey Press |isbn=978-0-256-06208-3 |edition=2nd |series= |location= |pages=366 |language=en}}</ref> On the bicentennial of Newton's death in 1927, astronomer [[James Jeans]] stated that he "was certainly the greatest man of science, and perhaps the greatest intellect, the human race has seen".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jeans |first=J. H. |date=1927-03-26 |title=Isaac Newton |url=https://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/119028a0x |journal=Nature |volume=119 |issue=2995supp |pages=28–30 |doi=10.1038/119028a0x |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> Physicist Peter Rowlands also notes that Newton was "possibly possessed of the most powerful intellect in the whole of human history".<ref name=":23" /> Newton ultimately conceived four revolutions—in optics, mathematics, mechanics, and gravity—but also foresaw a fifth in electricity, though he lacked the time and energy in old age to fully accomplish it.<ref name=":10">{{Cite magazine |last=Morrow |first=Lance |author-link=Lance Morrow |date=1999-12-31 |title=17th Century: Isaac Newton (1642-1727) |url=https://time.com/archive/6737426/17th-century-isaac-newton-1642-1727/ |access-date=2024-12-19 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rowlands |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRM0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=Newton And Modern Physics |publisher=World Scientific |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-78634-332-1 |pages=24–25}}</ref> Newton's work is considered the most influential in bringing forth modern science.<ref name=":25">{{Cite journal |last=Westfall |first=Richard S. |author-link=Richard S. Westfall |date=1981 |title=The Career of Isaac Newton: A Scientific Life in the Seventeenth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41210741 |journal=The American Scholar |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=341–353 |issn=0003-0937 |jstor=41210741}}</ref>{{Sfn|Iliffe|Smith|2016|pp=1, 4, 12–16}}<ref name=":26">{{cite book |last=Snobelen |first=Stephen D. |contribution=Isaac Newton |date=24 February 2021 |title=Renaissance and Reformation |url=https://oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399301/obo-9780195399301-0462.xml |access-date=15 November 2024 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/obo/9780195399301-0462 |isbn=978-0-19-539930-1 |author-link=Stephen Snobelen}}</ref>

The physicist [[Ludwig Boltzmann]] called Newton's ''Principia'' "the first and greatest work ever written about [[theoretical physics]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boltzmann |first=Ludwig |author-link=Ludwig Boltzmann |url=https://archive.org/details/theoretical-physics-and-philosophical-problems-selected-writings/page/157 |title=Theoretical Physics and Philosophical Problems: Selected Writings |date=1974 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=978-90-277-0250-0 |editor-last=McGuinness |editor-first=Brian |location= |pages=157}}</ref> Physicist [[Stephen Hawking]] similarly called ''Principia'' "probably the most important single work ever published in the [[Outline of physical science|physical sciences]]".<ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Pask |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Pask |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRhnAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |title=Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece |date=2013 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61614-746-4 |location= |page=11}}</ref> Lagrange called ''Principia'' "the greatest production of the human mind", and noted that "he felt dazed at such an illustration of what man's intellect might be capable".<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Ball |first=W. W. Rouse |author-link=W. W. Rouse Ball |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIxsAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA352 |title=A Short Account of the History of Mathematics |publisher=Macmillan & Co. |year=1915 |edition=6th |pages=352}}</ref>

Physicist [[Edward Andrade]] stated that Newton "was capable of greater sustained mental effort than any man, before or since", and noted earlier the place of Isaac Newton in history, stating:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrade |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Andrade |title=The World of Mathematics: Volume 1 |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |year=2000 |isbn=9780486411538 |editor-last=Newman |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Newman |edition=Reprint |pages=255, 275 |chapter=Isaac Newton |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQqLHyd8K0IC&pg=PA255}}</ref>{{blockquote|From time to time in the history of mankind a man arises who is of universal significance, whose work changes the current of human thought or of human experience, so that all that comes after him bears evidence of his spirit. Such a man was [[Shakespeare]], such a man was [[Beethoven]], such a man was Newton, and, of the three, his kingdom is the most widespread.}}The French physicist and mathematician [[Jean-Baptiste Biot]] praised Newton's genius, stating that:<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Edmund Fillingham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5O49AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA97 |title=A Biographical Sketch of Sir Isaac Newton |publisher=S. Ridge & Son |year=1858 |edition=2nd |pages=97}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Never was the supremacy of intellect so justly established and so fully confessed . . . In mathematical and in experimental science without an equal and without an example; combining the genius for both in its highest degree.}}Despite his rivalry with [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Gottfried Wilhem Leibniz]], Leibniz still praised the work of Newton, with him responding to a question at a dinner in 1701 from [[Sophia Charlotte of Hanover|Sophia Charlotte]], the Queen of Prussia, about his view of Newton with:<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Schorling |first1=Raleigh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMZXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA418 |title=General Mathematics |last2=Reeve |first2=William David |publisher=Ginn & Company |year=1919 |pages=418 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Westfall|1994|p=282}}{{blockquote|Taking mathematics from the beginning of the world to the time of when Newton lived, what he had done was much the better half.}}
Mathematician [[Eric Temple Bell|E.T. Bell]] ranked Newton alongside [[Carl Friedrich Gauss]] and [[Archimedes]] as the three greatest mathematicians of all time,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Eric Temple |author-link=Eric Temple Bell |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQqLHyd8K0IC&pg=PA295 |title=The World of Mathematics: Volume 1 |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |year=2000 |isbn=9780486411538 |editor-last=Newman |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Newman |edition=Reprint |pages=294–295 |chapter=Gauss, the Prince of Mathematicians}}</ref> with the mathematician [[Donald M. Davis (mathematician)|Donald M. Davis]] also noting that Newton is generally ranked with the other two as the greatest mathematicians ever.<ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Donald M. |author-link=Donald M. Davis (mathematician) |url=https://archive.org/details/naturepowerofmat0000davi/page/15 |title=The Nature and Power of Mathematics |date=1993 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=0-691-08783-0 |edition= |series= |location= |pages=15, 92, 366 |language=en}}</ref> In ''The Cambridge Companion to Isaac Newton'' (2016), he is described as being "from a very young age, an extraordinary problem-solver, as good, it would appear, as humanity has ever produced".{{Sfn|Iliffe|Smith|2016|p=30}} He is ultimately ranked among the top two or three greatest theoretical scientists ever, alongside [[James Clerk Maxwell]] and [[Albert Einstein]], the greatest mathematician ever alongside Carl F. Gauss, and among the best experimentalists ever, thereby "putting Newton in a class by himself among empirical scientists, for one has trouble in thinking of any other candidate who was in the first rank of even two of these categories." Also noted is "At least in comparison to subsequent scientists, Newton was also exceptional in his ability to put his scientific effort in much wider perspective".{{Sfn|Iliffe|Smith|2016|pp=15–16}} Gauss himself had Archimedes and Newton as his heroes,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldman |first=Jay R. |title=The Queen of Mathematics: A Historically Motivated Guide to Number Theory |date=1998 |publisher=A.K. Peters |isbn=978-1-56881-006-5 |location= |pages=88 |language=en}}</ref> and used terms such as [[wiktionary:clarissimus|''clarissimus'']] or [[wiktionary:magnus|''magnus'']] to describe other intellectuals such as great mathematicians and philosophers, but reserved [[wiktionary:summus|''summus'']] for Newton only, and once remarked that "Newton remains forever the master of all masters!"<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dunnington |first=Guy Waldo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMH2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |title=Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science |date=2004 |publisher=Mathematical Association of America |isbn=978-0-88385-547-8 |series= |pages=57, 232}}</ref> 

Albert Einstein kept a picture of Newton on his study wall alongside ones of [[Michael Faraday]] and of James Clerk Maxwell.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gleeson-White |first=Jane |date=10 November 2003 |title=Einstein's Heroes |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/einsteins-heroes-20031110-gdhr3v.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128115406/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/einsteins-heroes-20031110-gdhr3v.html |archive-date=28 November 2019 |access-date=29 September 2021 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> Einstein stated that Newton's creation of calculus in relation to his laws of motion was "perhaps the greatest advance in thought that a single individual was ever privileged to make."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capra |first=Fritjof |author-link=Fritjof Capra |title=The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism |date=1975 |publisher=Shambhala |isbn=978-0-87773-078-1 |location=Berkeley |page=56 }}</ref> He also noted the influence of Newton, stating that:<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Pask |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Pask |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRhnAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |title=Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece |date=2013 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61614-746-4 |location=Amherst, New York |page=11}}</ref>{{blockquote|The whole evolution of our ideas about the processes of nature, with which we have been concerned so far, might be regarded as an organic development of Newton's ideas.}}In 1999, an opinion poll of 100 of the day's leading physicists voted Einstein the "greatest physicist ever," with Newton the runner-up, while a parallel survey of rank-and-file physicists ranked Newton as the greatest.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 November 1999 |title=Opinion poll. Einstein voted 'greatest physicist ever' by leading physicists; Newton runner-up |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/541840.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812011359/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/541840.stm |archive-date=12 August 2017 |access-date=17 January 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=29 November 1999 |title=Newton tops PhysicsWeb poll |url=https://physicsworld.com/a/newton-tops-physicsweb-poll/ |access-date=19 November 2024 |website=Physics World }}</ref> In 2005, a dual survey of both the public and of members of Britain's [[Royal Society]] (formerly headed by Newton) asking who had the greater effect on both the history of science and on the history of mankind, Newton or Einstein, both the public and the Royal Society deemed Newton to have made the greater overall contributions for both.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 November 2005 |title=Newton beats Einstein in polls of scientists and the public |url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2012/newton-einstein/ |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=[[Royal Society]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=24 November 2005 |title=Newton beats Einstein in new poll |url=https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/11/24/1515693.htm |access-date=11 September 2024 |website=www.abc.net.au }}</ref>

In 1999, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] named Newton the [[Time Person of the Year#Special editions|Person of the Century]] for the 17th century.<ref name=":10" /> Newton placed sixth in the ''[[100 Greatest Britons]]'' poll conducted by [[BBC]] in 2002. However, in 2003, he was voted as the greatest [[British people|Briton]] in a poll conducted by [[BBC News (international TV channel)|BBC World]], with [[Winston Churchill]] second.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 August 2003 |title=Newton voted greatest Briton |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3151333.stm |access-date=22 November 2024 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> He was voted as the greatest [[Cantabrigian]] by [[University of Cambridge]] students in 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-11-20 |title=Newton voted Greatest Cantabrigian |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/1609 |access-date=2024-11-30 |work=[[Varsity (Cambridge)|Varsity]]}}</ref>

Physicist [[Lev Landau]] [[Lev Landau#Landau's ranking of physicists|ranked physicists on a logarithmic scale]] of productivity and genius ranging from 0 to 5. The highest ranking, 0, was assigned to Newton. Einstein was ranked 0.5. A rank of 1 was awarded to the fathers of [[quantum mechanics]], such as [[Werner Heisenberg]] and [[Paul Dirac]]. Landau, a Nobel prize winner and the discoverer of [[superfluidity]], ranked himself as 2.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mitra |first=Asoke |author-link=Asoke Nath Mitra |date=2006-11-01 |title=New Einsteins need positive environment, independent spirit |url=https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/59/11/12/395831/New-Einsteins-need-positive-environment |journal=Physics Today |language=en |volume=59 |issue=11 |pages=12 |doi=10.1063/1.4797321 |bibcode=2006PhT....59k..12M |issn=0031-9228}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Elkhonon |author-link=Elkhonon Goldberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rr9EDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA166 |title=Creativity: The Human Brain in the Age of Innovation |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-046649-7 |location=New York, NY |pages=166 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[SI derived unit]] of [[force]] is named the [[Newton (unit)|Newton]] in his honour.