1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page

Christopher Hill (essay date 1967)

SOURCE: "Newton and His Society," in The Annus Mirabilis of Sir Isaac Newton, 1666-1966, edited by Robert Palter, The M.I.T. Press, 1970, pp. 26-47.

[In the following essay, Hill reviews the social and personal influences on Newton's life and work, suggesting that the most potent influences were Newton's Puritan upbringing and the post-revolutionary society in which he lived.]

I

One way for me to approach the subject of Newton and his society would be to quote Professor Alexandre Koyré: "The social structure of England in the 17th century cannot explain Newton."¹ Then I could sit down. But of course we must gloss Koyré by emphasizing the word "explain." A complete explanation of Newton cannot be given in social terms. The historian, however, qua historian, is not interested in single causal explanations. The questions he asks are "Why here?", "Why now?" If science were a...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Introduction
2. Criticism
   1. Christopher Hill (essay date 1967)
   2. I. Bernard Cohen (lecture date 1981)
   3. Milton Wilson (essay date 1988)
   4. Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and Margaret C. Jacob (essay date 1995)
3. Further Reading
4. Copyright