Magic & Science

Isaac Newton’s Universal Principle of Gravitation—which showed that the same force of attraction was responsible for the fall of an apple to the Earth, and for keeping the planets in their orbits around the Sun—did not simply spring to Newton’s mind in a dazzling moment of genius. In fact, Newton’s brilliant idea was the culminating point of a long series of speculations beginning with new theories of magnetism developed by Queen Elizabeth I’s personal physician, William Gilbert (1544-1603). The usual story, told by historians of science, is that the move from magnetic attraction to gravitational attraction was brought about after Gilbert by thinkers like Christopher Wren (1632-1723), Robert Hooke (1635-1703), and ending with Newton (1642-1727). 
But Xiaona Wang has now discovered the previously unnoticed crucial role of Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Gilbert and Bacon were both magical thinkers at the Court of Queen Elizabeth, but they were magical thinkers of very different kinds. Bacon’s magical beliefs were closer to the later magical beliefs of Newton, and were essential in leading to the universal principle of gravitation. In this talk, John and Xiaona will explain why and how. 
Category:Magic
Category:Science