While Newton never explicitly stated that you must read specific books to understand his work, he did heavily draw upon and reference the writings of others, particularly in his own Principia Mathematica. Some key works he consulted include Samuel Foster’s Miscellanies, a treatise on numismatics, alchemy texts like the Artis Auriferae, and occult philosophy books such as Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia.
To understand Newton’s scientific ideas, it’s beneficial to explore the intellectual landscape of his time. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of some relevant works.
(I won’t list the books here but a simple Google search will enlighten you).
I often smile when I think of the way Sir Issac Newton asked his peers to prep and prepare for reading his work by asking them to read a long list of books that he recommended first. It sounds presumptous but, as with all of our own thinking, influences, experience and wisdom comes from living, experiencing and learning from all aspects of out own lives and, likely, Newton was only trying to enable and encourage others to appreciate factors that, no doubt, influenced his own unique and idiosyncratic ideas and concepts.
And anyway, it is fascinating to learn what books and other influences were circulating around the time of Newton’s life; and in what context such books may have played their own role in educating him.
So … in emulating Newton’s idea of a book list (and other resources and influences), to highlight major or profound influences that shaped my own life, I’ll include my own presumptous request here and state that you’ll probably never fully understand me or how my own mind ticks, ot ticked), unless you factor in the following;
(To be padded out with text, anecdotes, examples and whatever … eventually)
Look and Learn. Leonard Matthews. Fleetway Publications. From age 5.
Just William. Richmal Crompton. From age 7.
Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing. Bernard Venables. From age 12.
Philosophy and Life. At 14.
Think and Grow Rick. Napolean Hill and Bill Hartley. At 13.
World’s in Collision. Immanuel Velikoskovsky. At 14.
I can never forget the line, “Thought are things and very important things when combined with willpower, enthusiasm and determination.” Well, after over 50 years, I may have actually got that quote a bit wrong but the spirit and sentiment of the sentence I read as a young teenager, even if not an accurate rendition of the sentence now, had a very profound effect on me.
Golden Apples of the Sun. Ray Bradbury, Aged 14.
Go and read Bradbury’s “The Foghorn”. In doing so, you’ll understand a little more about the way I tick. Read his pastel coloured sweeps of prose and recognise a similarity in the way I express and think when it comes to living this life.
Bradbury’s words have been a kind of blueprint for my own thinking and writing all of my life and it began when my English teacher, Dave Peters, introduced me to “Golden Apples”.
When you read “The Foghorn and when you understand the tiers of meaning and impactful words the story is painting … including holding up a mirror to view the real truth about humanity … (and ourselves), you will begin to see inside my own soul a litter deeper and a little bit clearer … and … if you feel you are on some quest to understand human beings a little deeper then me inviting you to read such a wonderous though poignant tale might be regarded as representing a gift from me to you AND as a kind of Rosetta stone to, perhaps, enable you to decipher me just a little bit more!
Meditations. Antonious Pius.
Johnathan Livingstone Seagull. Richard Bach.
Sophie’s World. Jostein Gaarder.
Earth. FrankTownshend.