At least one writer has suggested that Isaac Newton’s famous quote about seeing further than other men “by standing on the shoulders of giants” was a veiled attack on Robert Hooke for being short.
Seems unlikely. Wikipedia says that the famous quote was in a letter to Hooke himself, and with the full context it sounds like a true compliment:
“What Des-Cartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, & especially in taking ye colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants.”
The Wikipedia the article you quoted goes on to say:
This has recently been interpreted by a few writers as a sarcastic remark directed against Hooke. This is speculative; Hooke and Newton had exchanged many letters in tones of mutual regard, and Hooke was not of particularly short stature, although he was of slight build and had been afflicted from his youth with a severe kyphosis. However, at some point, when Robert Hooke criticized some of Newton’s ideas regarding optics, Newton was so offended that he withdrew from public debate. The two men remained enemies until Hooke’s death.
I linked to Google Books’ sample of pages 187-188 of Michael White’s book Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer. The author looks at their correspondence in some detail, and makes an emphatic conclusion which I won’t spoil here.
So is his conclusion “speculative”? I don’t know. But he certainly wasn’t unaware of the context of the quote.
Seems unlikely. Wikipedia says that the famous quote was in a letter to Hooke himself, and with the full context it sounds like a true compliment:
The Wikipedia the article you quoted goes on to say:
I linked to Google Books’ sample of pages 187-188 of Michael White’s book Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer. The author looks at their correspondence in some detail, and makes an emphatic conclusion which I won’t spoil here.
So is his conclusion “speculative”? I don’t know. But he certainly wasn’t unaware of the context of the quote.
I remain of course, your most humble servant.