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Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1728) Alchemist, Father of Calculus and Modern Physics, Lucasian Chair, Royal Society Fellow, 2nd Knighted Scientist, Grand Master of Prieuré de Sion

Post author By Steven Wood Collins
Post date January 10, 2022
32 Comments on Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1728) Alchemist, Father of Calculus and Modern Physics, Lucasian Chair, Royal Society Fellow, 2nd Knighted Scientist, Grand Master of Prieuré de Sion

Sir Isaac Newton monument – Westminster Abbey

Sir Isaac Newton grave – Westminster Abbey

Isaac holds a special place in British history not only because of his seminal development of modern physics and mathematics but also because his differential calculus equations greatly contributed to the success of the British Empire in military application. The effectiveness of artillery trajectory calculus that evolved from the equations rendered British artillery with the capability to fire ordinance with deadly pinpoint accuracy. No other foe of the British Empire, except the Hohenzollerns much later, had that capability decades later. Unlike Sir Isaac, who likely didn’t perceive any potential danger to mankind, Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) warned the scientific community of the menace to mankind of the possible misuse as a consequence of his seminal work in the field of quantum mechanics.

After decades, if not centuries, of controversy, it’s now widely recognized that Isaac, not his German contemporary Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646- 1716), was the first to develop both differential and integral calculus. Though Leibniz was the first to publish his theories along those lines, we now know that Isaac was the first to develop them. Newton always maintained that Leibniz plagiarized the initial presentation of calculus theory papers he presented to the Royal Academy; Leibniz is thus regarded as having formalized mathematical representations, symbols, and the like, employed in the discipline today.

English mathematician John Collins, FRS, is recognized as having influenced Isaac’s development of infinitesimal calculus. His correspondence to him also served to finally settle the polemic as to whether or not Newton created the mathematic discipline before Liebnitz.

Following the review of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1747, French mathematical physicist Alexis Clairaut proclaimed that “no one could deny that” (out of the ‘Principia’) “a science had emerged that, at least in certain respects, so far exceeded anything that had ever gone before that it stood alone as the ultimate exemplar of science generally.” While not responsible for starting the Scientific Revolution from a historical perspective, Principia certainly served to legitimize the movement as a viable alternative to medieval alchemy in the eyes of governmental leadership concerns, especially in Britain.

Isaac was an agnatic descendant of quasi-legendary Beli Mawr, the Druid high priest and King of South Wales (Cornwall). His marriage to Anna “Prophetess” of Arimathea (19 BC – 91 AD), cousin of the Virgin Mary, Newton’s lifelong interest in occult arts, such as alchemy and Kabbalah, likely had a root in the wedding of the two not-so-disparate religious philosophies, i.e., druidic and Hebraic. Moreover, his fascination with the architectural geometry of the Temple of Solomon came to literary fruition with the publication of The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms in the year of his death.

As one of Isaac’s few detractors soon after his death, utopian philosopher William Blake (1757 – 1827) took exception to scientific empiricism. In his view, Isaac’s scientific philosophy substantially mitigated the nascent philosophical revolution he envisioned was on the cusp of emerging in Britain. He demonized him through his poetry and paintings as a consequence. Isaac would have probably responded to his strident criticism by pointing reminding Blake that the spiritual awakening occurred in England when Lord Jesus established his “Christian” ministry in Glastonbury several years before his crucifiction (which purportedly gave rise to the advent of the Church of England as Henry VIII had envisioned). Unfortunately for William, he never foresaw the salubrious transformation of the human condition brought about by scientific empiricism (and neither Sir Isaac).

Isaac was the second Chair of Lucasian Mathematics. The other two of my distant relatives to hold the position are as follows:

1822 – 1826 Thomas Turton DD, Bishop of Ely

Birth 5 February 1780 in York, Yorkshire, England

Death 7 January 1864 in London, England

1849 – 1903 Sir George Gabriel Stokes, President of Royal Society

Birth 13 Aug 1819 in Skreen, Sligo, Ireland

Death I Feb 1903 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England

Of the two, Stokes was by far and away a credible peer of Isaac Newton. Thomas Turton was instead mainly known as an important theologian of his day.

He allegedly served as the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion from 1671 to 1727.

Isaac was President of the Royal Society from 1703 to 1727. Robert Boyle, FRS (1627 – 1691), his cousin and mentor who was also an alchemist, was a founding member of the society as well as an alleged Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.

Only Muhammad the Prophet (#1) ranked ahead of Isaac in Michael H. Hart’s The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. At #2, he’s ahead of Jesus Christ (#3) in Hart’s ranking scheme.

Isaac was the second scientist knighted in recognition of outstanding scientific achievement on behalf of the British Empire; Sir Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626) was the first.

He was a descendant of Tewdwr Mawr “The Great”, King of South Wales (1015 – 1089), Lludd Llaw Eraint ap Beli Mawr, King of Britons (80 – 18 BC), and Brutus of Troy (1150 – 1091 BC). Both he and Robert Boyle shared Norman knight Anchetil de Greye (1052 – 1087) as a direct paternal ancestor (Boyle’s agnatic ancestor; Newton’s direct paternal ancestor from two separately related lineages).

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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