Isaac Newton calculated end of world?

[Hotrod]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284733,00.html

JERUSALEM — Three-century-old manuscripts by Isaac Newton calculating the exact date of the apocalypse, detailing the precise dimensions of the ancient temple in Jerusalem and interpreting passages of the Bible — exhibited this week for the first time — lay bare the little-known religious intensity of a man many consider history's greatest scientist.

Newton, who died 280 years ago, is known for laying much of the groundwork for modern physics, astronomy, math and optics. But in a new Jerusalem exhibit, he appears as a scholar of deep faith who also found time to write on Jewish law — even penning a few phrases in careful Hebrew letters — and combing the Old Testament's Book of Daniel for clues about the world's end.

The documents, purchased by a Jewish scholar at a Sotheby's auction in London in 1936, have been kept in safes at Israel's national library in Jerusalem since 1969. Available for decades only to a small number of scholars, they have never before been shown to the public.

In one manuscript from the early 1700s, Newton used the cryptic Book of Daniel to calculate the date for the apocalypse, reaching the conclusion that the world would end no earlier than 2060.

"It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner," Newton wrote. However, he added, "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

In another document, Newton interpreted biblical prophecies to mean that the Jews would return to the Holy Land before the world ends. The end of days will see "the ruin of the wicked nations, the end of weeping and of all troubles, the return of the Jews captivity and their setting up a flourishing and everlasting Kingdom," he posited.

The exhibit also includes treatises on daily practice in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In one document, Newton discussed the exact dimensions of the temple — its plans mirrored the arrangement of the cosmos, he believed — and sketched it. Another paper contains words in Hebrew, including a sentence taken from the Jewish prayerbook.

Yemima Ben-Menahem, one of the exhibit's curators, said the papers show Newton's conviction that important knowledge was hiding in ancient texts.

"He believed there was wisdom in the world that got lost. He thought it was coded, and that by studying things like the dimensions of the temple, he could decode it," she said.

The Newton papers, Ben-Menahem said, also complicate the idea that science is diametrically opposed to religion. "These documents show a scientist guided by religious fervor, by a desire to see God's actions in the world," she said.

More prosaic documents on display show Newton keeping track of his income and expenses while a scholar at Cambridge and later, as master of the Royal Mint, negotiating with a group of miners from Devon and Cornwall about the price of the tin they supplied to Queen Anne.

The archives of Hebrew University in Jerusalem include a 1940 letter from Albert Einstein to Abraham Shalom Yahuda, the collector who purchased the papers a year earlier.

Newton's religious writings, Einstein wrote, provide "a variety of sketches and ongoing changes that give us a most interesting look into the mental laboratory of this unique thinker

[Spider]

Didnt he also invent the fig cookie ?

[Hotrod]

Originally Posted by §Pide®

Didnt he also invent the fig cookie ?

I have not had a fig-nuten in years. Do they still make those?

I just find this article interesting that one of the greatest scientific minds in history was also religious.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

I have not had a fig-nuten in years. Do they still make those?

I just find this article interesting that one of the greatest scientific minds in history was also religious.

I dont know about the cookies .... but I read the entire thing ......but 1 month before the world ends I am not paying any of my Bills

[alkemical]

I was going to post this yesterday, but got busy at work and forgot. I did post on the thesouthstands.....

It was an interesting read.

[TheDave]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

I have not had a fig-nuten in years. Do they still make those?

I just find this article interesting that one of the greatest scientific minds in history was also religious.

Newton was crazy in alot of ways... He was a recluse for most of his life. Probably suffered from agoraphobia or some similar disease. He rarely slept, ate very little and would remain indoors for months at a time doing nothing but math, physics, alchemy, etc. Hell the guy basically invented calculus... that right there should prove he was borderline nuts. So does it shock me that a recluse nut/genius from the 17th century had a religious streak in him? Nah, nobody's perfect

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by TheDave

Newton was crazy in alot of ways... He was a recluse for most of his life. Probably suffered from agoraphobia or some similar disease. He rarely slept, ate very little and would remain indoors for months at a time doing nothing but math, physics, alchemy, etc. Hell the guy basically invented calculus... that right there should prove he was borderline nuts. So does it shock me that a recluse nut/genius from the 17th century had a religious streak in him? Nah, nobody's perfect

Mostly Alchemy and he did invent Calculus.

[TailgateNut]

Originally Posted by TheDave

Newton was crazy in alot of ways... He was a recluse for most of his life. Probably suffered from agoraphobia or some similar disease. He rarely slept, ate very little and would remain indoors for months at a time doing nothing but math, physics, alchemy, etc. Hell the guy basically invented calculus... that right there should prove he was borderline nuts. So does it shock me that a recluse nut/genius from the 17th century had a religious streak in him? Nah, nobody's perfect

The original NERD! Calculus caused the only bald spot on my hairy head!

[alkemical]

I like alchemy

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by TailgateNut

The original NERD! Calculus caused the only bald spot on my hairy head!

the last math class I took was Multi-variable Vector Calculus

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

the last math class I took was Multi-variable Vector Calculus

well that explains why you have alot of time to post

[BroncoBuff]

He was probably the smartest man who ever lived ... but he also spent much if not MOST of his time on alchemy - primitive attempts to turn ordinary metal into gold. His records show he was obsessed with it.

So, take this with a grain of salt.

[alkemical]

There's alot of misconception on turning metals to gold in alchemy - most of the time it was allegorical.

[TheDave]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Mostly Alchemy and he did invent Calculus.

Gottfried Leibniz just rolled over in his grave...

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by TheDave

Gottfried Leibniz just rolled over in his grave...

Newton wrote it down many years prior...he just didn't "publish" it...but the German guy came in second.

[Crushaholic]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284733,00.html

"It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner," Newton wrote.

...such a brilliant man...

[NYBronco]

Give me Calculus anytime over Differential Equations.

[BroncoBuff]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

Newton interpreted biblical prophecies to mean that the Jews would return to the Holy Land before the world ends. The end of days will see "the ruin of the wicked nations,"

He knew Isaac was such a mensch?

He was correct obviously about the Jews returning to the Holy Land ... but when he writes about the "ruin of wicked nations," I wonder which nations he meant? Until 5 years ago, it was easy to say Germany and the Third Reich. But to be honest - when I read that today - it hit a little closer to home.

[epicSocialism4tw]

Newton was a brilliant man.

People that drive a wedge between religious philosophy and scientific philosophy dont know much about either.

[spdirty]

Isaac Newton is dead. Who gives a shlt what he said.

[epicSocialism4tw]

Originally Posted by spdirty

Isaac Newton is dead. Who gives a shlt what he said.

You do.

That is, if you care about any major physics discovery since the great contribution of his great mind. Heck, you like the Broncos, no? Much of the metric of Broncos player scouting is dependant on the idea that Newton unclothed. Our national defense uses Newtons ideas everyday. Planes? Trains? Automobiles? Newton's ideas helped with the development of all of these.

[spdirty]

Originally Posted by angryllama

You do.

That is, if you care about any major physics discovery since the great contribution of his great mind. Heck, you like the Broncos, no? Much of the metric of Broncos player scouting is dependant on the idea that Newton unclothed. Our national defense uses Newtons ideas everyday. Planes? Trains? Automobiles? Newton's ideas helped with the development of all of these.

So?

[spdirty]

k.

[BroncoBuff]

Whatever any of us says in here, nothing can change the fact that Isaac Newton is probably the greatest genius ever, and is one of the most important men who ever lived.

Right up there with Jesus, Galileo, Einstein, Da Vinci, and Hixon.

[spdirty]

Originally Posted by BroncoBuff

Whatever any of us says in here, nothing can change the fact that Isaac Newton is probably the greatest genius ever, and is one of the most important men who ever lived.

Right up there with Jesus, Galileo, Einstein, Da Vinci, and Hixon.

and Bush.