Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., October 11, 2009 Tishrei 23, 5770 | | Israel Time: 16:28 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Real Estate Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Father of modern science calculated: World to end in 2060
By Ofri Ilani

At the top of the ancient, densely written English manuscript a verse in Hebrew stands out: "Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for ever." Other pages contain sketches of the Temple and calculations of the end of the world, based on verses from the Book of Daniel. The author of these mysterious ruminations was not a sorcerer nor a religious fanatic but none other than Isaac Newton, the 17th-century mathematician and physicist considered the most influential scientist of all time.

Newton's original theological and mystical writings will be on display in a special exhibition entitled "Newton's Secrets," opening today at the National Library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This is the first time the manuscripts, in Israel since 1969, have been presented to the public. A digital version of some of the letters can be seen on the National Library's site: at www.tinyurl.com/28ervr.

One of the most intersting manuscripts is a letter from 1704, in which Newton calculates that the world will end in 2060, based on a phrase from Daniel 12:7 "for a time, times, and a half." Newton interpreted this phrase as meaning 1,260 years would pass from the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne in 800, until the End of Days.
Advertisement
According to the exhibit's curator, Professor Yemima Ben-Menachem of the Hebrew University Philosophy Department, "For a long time, Newton was regarded only as a great scientist and mathematician. These writings lay in crates and did not bother scholars, but today we're in the New Age period, and scholars are more open to manuscripts like these.

'The subject of the end of the world is also of interest to many people, and there are some who would say that if Newton predicted the end would come in 2060, maybe he knew something we don't know."

How did Newton's writings end up at the Hebrew University? According to Ben-Menachem, his heirs were not interested in his theological writings, and Sotheby's auctioned them in 1936. The British economist John Maynard Keynes acquired them. He bequeathed them to Kings College, Cambridge, in England, and to the Jewish Oriental studies scholar Abraham Shalom Yahuda. Before the latter's death in 1951, he bequeathed them to the State of Israel.

An academic conference on Newton will also be held at Jerusalem's Van Leer Institute, presenting new studies on Newton's scientific and religious world. The exhibit and conference will shed light on aspects of the scientist's thinking that do not fit his better known rational bent.

"During the scientific revolution, religion and science were entwined with each other," Ben-Menachem explains. "Scientists of the 17th century did not fight religion; most scientific giants were religious. Newton was also a very religious man and, as opposed to other learned people of his day, he even believed in a personal God.

"Newton understood nature as a book that we can decipher, as the Holy Scriptures are read. He considered himself a kind of prophet of the natural sciences. In both these areas he looked for the hidden message to be unraveled."

On Tuesday at Van Leer, Professor Mark Steiner of the Hebrew University's Philosophy Department will speak on Newton's attempts to calculate the biblical measurement known as the cubit, based on verses in Ezekiel.
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
'Free Hamas prisoners'
Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath says free Hamas prisoners to bring Gilad Shalit home.
Iran defiance
Iran says it will continue to enrich uranium if fails to procure a third-party source.
  1.   fine; i will be dead by then 01:28  |  Alex 18/06/07
  2.   Abraham Shalom Yahuda 01:50  |  Boozaglow 18/06/07
  3.   Father Ytsik thank you 06:52  |  Tamar 18/06/07
  4.   NO, YAHUDA WAS AN IRAQI JEW,NOT EGYPTIAN.VELKOVSKY CHALLENGED FRE 06:53  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 18/06/07
  5.   time times and a half a time 07:09  |  joe barnathan 18/06/07
  6.   A Christian but not a wise one 07:41  |  Yohanna 18/06/07
  7.   time times and a half a time 07:54  |  joe barnathan 18/06/07
  8.   World without end Amen 09:00  |  Magdila 18/06/07
  9.   Newton and the end of world 2060 13:02  |  Torstein Langesaeter 18/06/07
  10.   The End 02:11  |  Padraig 19/06/07
  11.   Newton and the end of the World 2060 04:41  |  Chester Nichols 19/06/07
  12.   Newton and the messianic age in 2060 02:27  |  Noel Rude 22/06/07
  13.   it is not true 10:06  |  faisal sahar 23/08/07
  14.   Newton 22:48  |  ZackLee 16/03/08
  15.   Newtons theroy of the Apocalypse 18:23  |  Eric 18/07/08
  16.   END OF WORLD 17:21  |  CALEB MIZINGA 05/01/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Holiday Greetings from the Heart
LIBI-Caring for Israeli Soldiers
JGooders Special Rosh Hashanah Gift Cards
Send Gift Cards to you Friends and Family and Taste the Sweetness of Giving
Date Local Jewish Singles
Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Amazing Jewelry
Visit SoKoBe.com for the best priced fine jewelry in the world
More Headlines
15:47 Clinton: The world will not wait forever for Iran
11:13 Turkey bans Israel from international air force drill
11:05 'Settlements are comparable to blowing up buses in Tel Aviv'
14:43 Obama has betrayed mission to forge Mideast peace
14:42 Obama is worthy of Nobel, he has changed the world
16:24 Amira Hass / In Gaza, only the dying get to see their Israeli relatives
15:43 Israeli officials: U.K. support for Goldstone report may backfire
03:59 TV ROUND-UP: Mitchell meets Abbas, Netanyahu; Man held for killing mother
11:26 Obama Nobel win still can't light Mideast peace spark
02:56 ANALYSIS / Hamas incitement over Jerusalem fails to ignite West Bank
10:34 Knesset's winter session opens with a cool coalition
10:20 Why did Shas Minister skip groundbreaking of Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem?
05:32 Haaretz expose on Barak's millions prompts MK complaint to Mazuz
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved