British Culture - User contributions [en]

Isaac Newton

2009-07-13T14:16:57Z

Isaac:

1642-1727. Came from humble origins, went to Cambridge and staid there as don. Famous as the leading scientist of his age, writing on optics, mathematics, the laws of gravity. President of the Royal Society. Alexander Pope expressed the admiration of society for Newton thus:

“Nature and Nature’s Laws lay hid in Night;

God said Let Newton be! and all was Light.” (Quoted in Sambrook 1986: 2)

Many people popularised Newton’s ideas in the 18th century. There were public lectures on science in coffee-houses. Addison wrote about Newton in his famous weekly journal ''The Spectator''. There was even a ''Newton for Ladies''.

Sources:

''Oxford Companion to English Literature''.

James Sambrook. ''The Eighteenth Century. The Intellectual and Cultural Context of English Literature, 1700-1789''. London: Longman, 1986.

One of Newton's most important achievements was the establishment of the differential calculation. Concerning this issue, people are still quarelling whether this method was first invented by Newton or the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) (actually, they created it independent of each other).
However, in his ''Philosophia naturalis principa mathematica'' from 1687, Newton deduced his revolutionary findings on the laws of mechanics via average geometrics instead of differential calculation for fear that this new and still unknown method of calculation might hinder his readers even more from accepting his results.

In 1696, Charles Montague, Lord Halifax, attained that Newton became ''Warden of the Mint''. Circumstances prevented this employment to be no more than a sinecure: due to the growing problem of conterfeiting, Parliament decided to coin the English currency completely anew. Eventually, Newton introduced that coins should be coinaged also at the brim, which would make counterfeiting almost impossible.
Different biographers are astonished that a chaotic person like Newton (who was used to keep irregukar hours and slept only of overpowered by fatigue) showed such an organizing ability in his office as a Warden.
In 1700, after very successive trials against several forgerers, Newton was appointed ''Master of the Mint''. He hold this office until his death in 1727.

Sources:
David Berlinski: ''Der Apfel der Erkenntnis. Sir Isaac Newton und die Entschlüsselung des Universums''. Hamburg: Europäische Verlagsanstalt 2002.
Richard Westfall: ''Never at a rest. A biography of Isaac Newton'', Cambridge UP 1986.

Isaac Newton

2009-07-13T14:13:31Z

Isaac:

1642-1727. Came from humble origins, went to Cambridge and staid there as don. Famous as the leading scientist of his age, writing on optics, mathematics, the laws of gravity. President of the Royal Society. Alexander Pope expressed the admiration of society for Newton thus:

“Nature and Nature’s Laws lay hid in Night;

God said Let Newton be! and all was Light.” (Quoted in Sambrook 1986: 2)

Many people popularised Newton’s ideas in the 18th century. There were public lectures on science in coffee-houses. Addison wrote about Newton in his famous weekly journal ''The Spectator''. There was even a ''Newton for Ladies''.

Sources:

''Oxford Companion to English Literature''.

James Sambrook. ''The Eighteenth Century. The Intellectual and Cultural Context of English Literature, 1700-1789''. London: Longman, 1986.

One of Newton's most important achievements was the establishment of the differential calculation. Concerning this issue, people are still quarelling whether this method was invented first by Newton or the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). Actually, they created it independent of each other (though at roughly the same time).
However, in his ''Philosophia naturalis principa mathematica'' from 1687, Newton deduced his revolutionary findings on the laws of mechanics via average geometrics instead of differential calculation for fear that this new and still unknown method of calculation might hinder his readers even more from accepting his results.

In 1696, Charles Montague, Lord Halifax, attained that Newton became ''Warden of the Mint''. Circumstances prevented this employment to be no more than a sinecure: due to the growing problem of conterfeiting, Parliament decided to coin the English currency completely anew. Eventually, Newton introduced that ... which would make counterfeiting almost impossible.
Different biographers are astonished that a chaotic person like Newton (who was used to keep irregukar hours and slept only of overpowered by fatigue) showed such an organizing ability in his office as a Warden.
In 1700, after very successive trials against several ... Newton was appointed ''Master of the Mint''. He hold this office until his death in 1727.

Sources:
David Berlinski: ''Der Apfel der Erkenntnis. Sir Isaac Newton und die Entschlüsselung des Universums''. Hamburg: Europäische Verlagsanstalt 2002.
Richard Westfall: ''Never at a rest. A biography of Isaac Newton'', Cambridge UP 1986.

Isaac Newton

2009-07-13T14:07:07Z

Isaac:

1642-1727. Came from humble origins, went to Cambridge and staid there as don. Famous as the leading scientist of his age, writing on optics, mathematics, the laws of gravity. President of the Royal Society. Alexander Pope expressed the admiration of society for Newton thus:

“Nature and Nature’s Laws lay hid in Night;

God said Let Newton be! and all was Light.” (Quoted in Sambrook 1986: 2)

Many people popularised Newton’s ideas in the 18th century. There were public lectures on science in coffee-houses. Addison wrote about Newton in his famous weekly journal ''The Spectator''. There was even a ''Newton for Ladies''.

Sources:

''Oxford Companion to English Literature''.

James Sambrook. ''The Eighteenth Century. The Intellectual and Cultural Context of English Literature, 1700-1789''. London: Longman, 1986.

One of Newton's most important achievements was the establishment of the differential calculation. Concerning this issue, people are still quarelling whether this method was invented first by Newton or the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716).Actually, they created it independent of each other (though at roughly the same time).
However, in his Philosophia naturalis principa mathematica from 1687, Newton deduced his revolutionary findings on the laws of mechanics via average geometrics instead of differential calculation for fear that this new and still unknown method of calculation might hinder his readers even more from accepting his results.

In 1696, Charles Montagu, Lord Halifax, attained that Newton became Warden of the Mint. Circumstances prevented this employment to be no more than a sinecure: due to the growing problem of conterfeiting, Parliament decided to coin the English currency completely anew. Eventually, Newton introduced

Bacchus

2009-07-02T12:45:49Z

Isaac:

Bacchus

(clamour')

The Greek God of wine, representing chaos, ecstasy, and fertility.

Already his birth indicates his exceptionality: During her pregnancy, his mother Semele, a mistress of Jupiter, was told by Juno, the wife of Jupiter, that the man from whom she was pregnant was not Jupiter, but an impostor. To make sure, she should aks him to show himself as he did in front of the other Gods. Semele asks this favour from Jupiter after he had sworn that he would fulfill her any wish. Eventually, Semele was burnt to ashes by the real appearance of Jupiter.
Jupiter hid the baby she carried in his thigh, from which Bacchus was born three months later.

Bacchus was brought up by nymphs, satyrs, and muses. He initiated viticulture (i.e. the cultivation of wine) and travelled around accompanied by drunken, celebrating satyrs and ''Maenads'', i.e. dancing, raving women.
Bacchus' sign is a staff entwined with wine leaves (Tyrsus-Stab), and his head is crowned with wild wine and ivy. His shoulders are covered with the fur of a panther or tiger.
He either rides a panther or drives in a chariot drawn by one. Usually, Bacchus is depicted young and serene, with an almost feminine body, i.e. not muscular like e.g. Mars or Jupiter, but rather soft and round.
Bacchus "ist nichts anderes als die zeugende, in üppiger Fülle überströmende, den Menschen aus dem nüchternem Gange der Bildung und des geistigen Strebens herausreissende, berauschende Kraft der Natur" (Vollmer 93).
He is the counterpart to Apollo, the god of light and order. Although the latter one is usually associated with the fine arts, it is Bacchus (or in Greek mythology: Dionysos) who is the God of the theatre. From the 6th century BC onwards, the Dionysian plays were celebrated to honour him.

These were festivals during which poets presented their latest plays, which were written for this special occasion. The Great Dionysian plays were celebrated in the month '''elaphebolion''', i.e. around March/April. They lasted three days. On each day, three tragedies and one comedy were performed. After these three days, a commission of ten men decided which poet is to be awarded the first, second and third prize. Interestingly, the plays of Aischylos, Sophokles, Euripides and Aristophanes, which constitute no minor part of the classical canon today, were all specially written for this single occasion of the Dionysian plays.

Bacchus is one of the most manifold Gods, revealing also darker aspects of his personality: There were cruel punishments for those who tried to prevent or prohibit the worship of him. King Pentheus of Thebes was torn to pieces by his mother Agave and sisters while they were under the influence of Bacchus (he did not want them to take part in the cult). Thus, Bacchus stands also for a power which will not submit to any other(s).

This ambivalence of ecstasy and undeterred violence has become the focus of quite a few recent adaptations of the myth of Dionysos/Bacchus. Most famous example: Caryl Churchill and David Lan's play ''A Mouthful of Birds'' (1986).

sources:

Grassinger/Scholl (eds.). ''Die Rückkehr der Götter. Berlins verborgener Olymp''. Berlin 2008 (Ausstellungsband).
Ovid. ''Metamorphoses''. Book III.
Vollmer, Wilhelm. ''Wörterbuch der Mythologie aller Völker''. Reprint Verlag Leipzig 1871.

Bacchus

2009-07-01T15:57:07Z

Isaac:

Bacchus

(clamour')

The Greek God of wine, representing chaos, ecstasy, and fertility.

Already his birth indicates his exceptionality: During her pregnancy, his mother Semele, a mistress of Jupiter, was told by Juno, the wife of Jupiter, that the man from whom she was pregnant was not Jupiter, but an impostor. To make sure, she should aks him to show himself as he did in front of the other Gods. Semele askes this favour from Jupiter after he had sworn that he would fulfill her any wish. Eventually, Semele was burnt to ashes by the real appearance of Jupiter.
Jupiter hid the baby she carried in his thight, from which Bacchus was born three months later.

Bacchus was brought up by nymphs, satyrs, and muses. He initiated viticulture and travelled around accopmanied by drunken, celebrating satyrs and ''Mänaden'', i.e. dancing, raving women.
Bacchus' sign is a staff entwined with wine leaves (Tyrsus-Stab), and his head is crowned with wild wine and ivy. His shoulders are covered with the fur of a panther or tiger.
He either rides a panther or drives in a chariot drawn by one. Usually, Bacchus is depicted young and serene, with an almost feminine body, i.e. not muscular like e.g. Mars or Jupiter, but rather soft and round.
Bacchus "ist nichts anderes als die zeugende, in üppiger Fülle überströmende, den Menschen aus dem nüchternem Gange der Bildung und des geistigen Strebens herausreissende, berauschende Kraft der Natur" (Vollmer 93).
He is the counterpart to Apoll, the God of light and order. Although the latter one is usually associated with the beautiful arts, it is Bacchus who is the God of the theatre. From the 6th century onwards, the Dionysian plays were celebrated to honour him.

These were festivals during which poets presented their latest plays, which were written for this special occasion. The Great Dionysian plays were celebrated in the month '''elaphebolion''', i.e. around March/April. They lasted three days. On each day, three tragedies and one comedy were performed. After these three days, a commission of ten men decided which poet is to be awarded the first, second and third prize. Interestingly, the plays of Aischylos, Sophokles, Euripides and Aristophanes, which constitute no minor part of the classical canon today, were all specially written for this single occasion of the Dionysian plays.

Bacchus is one of the most manifold Gods, revealing also darker aspects of his personality: There were cruel punishments for those who tried to prevent or prohibit the worship of him. King Peneus of Theben was torn to pieces by his mother and sisters while they were under the influence of Bacchus (he did not want them to take part in the cult).
Thus, Bacchus stands also for a power which will not submit to any other(s).

sources:

Grassinger/Scholl (ed.): Die Rückkehr der Götter. Berlins verborgener Olymp. Berlin 2008 (Ausstellungsband).
Ovid: Metamorphosen, book III.
Vollmer, Wilhelm: Wörterbuch der Mythologie aller Völker. Reprint Verlag Leipzig.

Thomas Hobbes

2009-06-15T15:31:04Z

Isaac:

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), born at Malmesbury (supposedly frightened before his birth by the approach of the Spanish [[Armada]]) and educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford. Like [[John Milton]], he travelled to the European continent and met Galileo Galilei, Descartes and Mersenne. Briefly worked as mathematical tutor to the exiled King [[Charles II]], but returned to England and submitted to the [[Commonwealth Regime]] in 1652. Got a pension after the [[Restoration]] in 1660.

Known as influential political philosopher, most famously for ''The Leviathan'' (1651).

Source: Oxford Companion to Literature
Longer Biography available on Luminarium.org [http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/hobbes/hobbesbio.htm]

"Leviathan, or the matter, form and power of a common wealth ecclesiastical and civil"

The title of this text is a reference to the book of Hiob in the bible. There, 'leviathan' denotes a sea monster of which is said that there is no power on earth which is comparable to its. Hobbes uses the leviathan as a symbol of the political power of the state which alone is able to establish peace and security among men.

Hobbes' view was influenced not only by the power struggle between king and Parliament, but also by the civil wars of his time, which were mainly religiously motivated. From these circumstancs, Hobbes draws the following (quite memorable...) conclusion that religion is unsuitable to establish a reliable political order. This task is now to be fulfilled by political philosophy. Therefore, the philosopher Wolfgang Kersting calls the philosophy (as instrumentalised by Hobbes) a "Friedenswissenschaft" (Kersting 44), i.e. the philosopher has to set up principles upon which a political system can be successfully build.
Hobbes starts out from a state of nature, in which men behave like wolves again each other, driven by fear and desire. This state of nature is the result of a thought experiment: to find out how the state works and how a political system is to be established, Hobbes disintegregates the states of its components, i.e. its legal system and conventions. What cannot be dissolved or disintegrated and therefore remains is the individual.
Following the rules of his (i.e. Hobbesian) logic, man acts like an animal if bereft of rules and regulations.He pursues what Hobbes calls his right to everything. However, the strongest passion of this animal is its fear of death. Consequently, man has a strong instinct of self-preservation and he understands that in the lawless state of nature, "his right to everything is a right to nothing" (Lev,13), i.e. it is very likely that he will lose all his gains as soon as another persons longs for the same as he does. Thus he realizes that he has to leave this state of nature if he wants to lead a life worth living.
This is where the Leviathan comes in: human beings leave the state of nature via concluding a contract with each other to give over their power (their right to everything) to one person or an assembly of persons (for fear of tiresome discussions and quarrels- as seen in Parliament- Hobbes favours the single-person-solution).
This person/ assembly thus becomes the Leviathan, or the mortal God. However, although every man agrees in a contract to transfer his power to the Leviathan, this Leviathan himself is only the benefactor of this contract and no party to this agreement. Otherwise he would not have have the absolute power which is necessary to secure peace among his subjects and to enforce laws.

sources: Kersting, Wolfgang: Thomas Hobbes, Hamburg: Junius 2004.
Röd, Wolfgang: Der Weg der Philosophie, Hamburg 1996.