explains their similar “apparent size” in the sky and the mathematical
prospect of complete solar eclipse. Both orbs occupy one-half degree of
arc across our sky (it is 180 degrees from horizon to horizon), meaning
that you could line up 360 moons across the sky. By sheer coincidence, or
providence, lying in the Woolsthorpe apple orchard and gazing up at the
ancient apple tree, an apple would subtend the same half-degree in the sky.
Newton’s thought experiment about falling objects and the pull of the
moon by the earth started at Woolsthorpe, further bolstered by initial
simplistic calculations about the size of the moon, the distance from earth,
its velocity across the sky, and thoughts about the powers of attraction.
While it would take many years to form a comprehensive lexicon about
universal gravitation and the laws of thermal dynamics, the seeds were
planted in the Lincolnshire countryside, with Newton gazing at the moon
and sometimes staring straight at the sun.
The Royal Society lacked a formal meeting place of its own at first, but
the ingenious members did not tarry in adopting a motto—Nullius In
Verba, Latin for “take nobody’s word for it.” This contemporary
Solomon’s House would base all new knowledge on proof. Adopting
Baconian empirical processes, the intelligentsia disputed old beliefs,
tested new theories, and reported new findings. The center of the group
from the beginning was Robert Boyle, a tall and thin aristocrat from
Ireland who devoted his life to scientific experimentation. Boyle’s law is
familiar to every chemistry student as the explanation of the behavior of
gases, and is remarkably insightful for the 17th century. Boyle’s longtime
lab assistant was Robert Hooke, an Englishman who was a brilliant
technical scientist, manufacturer of equipment and devices, and grumpy
sidekick.
Also present from the outset was Christopher Wren, a polymath
anatomist, astronomer, physicist, and most notably, architect. Wren’s
monstrous energy and architectural cunning would be tried in 1666, when
all the buildings at the heart of London were razed by the great fire that
had been foretold by soothsayers who feared the implications of 666 in the
year.
Geniuses all, none would claim to be the first scientists or philosophical
wunderkinder; what made them remarkable was the congregation of
virtuosi, the world’s original scientific organization. The story of “early
science would have more to do with collaboration than with solitary
marcin
(Marcin)
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