Freedom of Science

Dear Prof. Glashow

All of the ills of modern physics can be traced to physicists’ unquestioning belief in Newton’s ancient authority.

Physics education teaches physicists to believe in Newton’s authority without question. This is proved by the fact that you have practiced your profession for over 40 years as a good Newtonian physicist without doubting Newton’s authority.

Only after a long and distinguished career you have become disillusioned with Newtonism. You became conscious of Newton myth. You realized that your childhood hero Newton was not who you thought he was.

Most of the anti-Newtonian literature you reference in your essay The Errors & Animadversions of Honest Isaac Newton  have been around for at least three decades. I believe it would have been better if this material have been made available to you while you were studying physics.

Your message that there is a Newtonian mythology which presents Newton as King of Kings of Mechanics and that this mythology is harmful to physics is an important message. The more physicists become conscious of Newtonian myth the better for both physics and physicists.

But your essay fails to expose the true crime of Newton. Your message is that there is a dark side to Newton. He is no saint. He does not conform to the norms of proper academic behavior as we know them today. Newton has religious beliefs. Newton does not give credit to his colleagues and so on….

Your conclusion is that despite his dark side Newton is still the King of Kings of Mechanics. You see no reason to change Newton’s saintly status in physics. You only doubt Newton’s saintliness in his social life and character. You see no reason to remove Newton’s authority from physics.

The historical truth is different. Newton is the last of the Aristotelians and the first of the Newtonians.

Newton stole Kepler’s rule and renamed it Newton’s laws. Please take the time to read the Principia. It is easier to repeat the mythology about Principia instead of reading it. But what is in Principia contradicts the Newtonian mythology as taught to physicists.

You write that “Newton’s greatest accomplishment” is “the mathematical analysis of planetary motion in the Principia.” This statement proves that you have not read Principia first hand. In the Principia Newton uses simple algebraic manipulations of Kepler’s rule to compute surface gravity of some planets. Newton uses Kepler’s rule, nothing but Kepler’s rule, to compute some simple astronomical data.

Newton’s only achievement in the Principia has been his ingenious presentation of Kepler’s rule as Newton’s laws. Newton was so successful in his dynamical polemics hiding Kepler’s rule that he has been fooling the greatest minds, including yourself, for the last 300 years.

I believe that your realization that Newtonian myth exists and Newton was not a scientist in today’s standards but a creationist is a good start. Next is to realize Newton’s original crime and work for the removal of Newtonian mythology from modern physics.

I urge you to take this opportunity and add to your distinguished career by leading the scientific revolution against Newton.

Best regards,

Editors, Freedom of Science

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