please help my homework

[boodle]

wat does standing on the shoulders of a giant mean please help me

[morkris]

that your achievements have been built upon would not have been possible with out the achivements of other great men

[sddsddean]

'Standing on the Shoulders of Giants' is also written around the edge of a �2 coin.

[derekpara]

I think it was a great Englishman ( Isaac Newton?) who said; ' If I have seen further than other men it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.'

[jno]

Isaac Newton, the scientist, said that if he had seen further than other people it was because he was standing on the shoulders of giants - ie the people who had already made a lot of important discoveries

[jno]

whoops, crossed with derekpara

[magicdice]

it was Newton, in a lengthy dispute with one of his rivals (who was very short, which added to the insult)

[Golem]

... and Newton was probably quoting,

"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours."

from The Metalogicon written by the theologian John of Salisbury in 1159.

[littleoldme]

Golem - I knew the Isaac Newton quote (which always causes me a wry smile, since Newton was not renowned for his modesty or for giving credit to others), but I've never heard that one from John of Salisbury. What a great quote it is too! I feel I've really learnt something today - thanks :-)

[Peter Pedant]

Golly Golem! Yeah it was isaac newton and I didnt know of Golem's quote.

The usual meaning given of newton is that he built on others' work.

BUT the other points are made - especially that he didnt given credit where credit was due implies that he meant something else or something more.

But what?

he certainly WASNT giving credit to Leibnitz (calculus) because he had a long standing argument over that.

If he were giving credit to others, then it would be Tycho Brahe, Copernicus and Kepler - probably

But newton wasnt a cuddly kind of guy -small minded bum given to quarrelling springs to mind.

[QmunkE]

Hmm, I never noticed that on the �2 coin before. I really should look more closely at my money.