Issac Newton Papers online (on Alchemy, Qaballah)

*REVEALED: THE OCCULT OBSESSIONS OF BRITAIN’S GREATEST SCIENTIST SIR
ISAAC NEWTON*
By Damien Gayle
Mail Online
February 16, 2012

http://nhne-pulse.org/now-available-online-the-occult-obsessions-of-sir-isaac-newton/

Original Link
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2101960/Revealed-esoteric-interests-Britains-greatest-scientist-Sir-Isaac-Newtons-occult-theological-writings-posted-online.html>

He laid the foundations of classical physics and is considered to be one
of the greatest scientists of all time.

But Sir Isaac Newton was also deeply interested in the occult and
applied a scientific approach to the study of scripture and Jewish
mysticism.

Now Israel’s national library, which contains a vast trove of Newton’s
esoteric writings, has digitised his occult collection andposted it
online
<http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/Humanities/Pages/newton.aspx>.

Among the yellowed texts is Newton’s famous prediction of the apocalypse
in 2060.

The quintessential scientist, Newton revolutionised the approach to
physics, maths and astronomy in the 17th and 18th century.

He laid the foundations for most of classical mechanics, including the
the principal of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion
which bear his name.

However, the curator of Israel’s national library’s humanities
collection said Newton was also a devout Christian who believed that
scripture provided a ‘code’ to the natural world.

‘Today, we tend to make a distinction between science and faith, but to
Newton it was all part of the same world,’ said Milka Levy-Rubin.

‘He believed that careful study of holy texts was a type of science,
that if analysed correctly could predict what was to come.’

To further his understanding, Newton learned Hebrew and delved into the
study of esoteric Jewish philosophy, the mysticism of Kabbala and the
Talmud.

For instance, he based his calculation on the end of days on information
gleaned from the Book of Daniel, which projected the apocalypse 1,260
years later.

Newton figured that this count began from the crowning of Charlemagne as
Roman emperor in the year 800.

He also believed that the geometry of Solomon’s temple encoded ancient
wisdom about proportions in nature and man’s place in Creation.

The papers cover topics such as interpretations of the Bible, theology,
the history of ancient cultures, the Tabernacle and the geometry of
Solomon’s Temple.

The collection also contains maps that Newton sketched to assist him in
his calculations and his attempts to reveal the secret knowledge he
believed was encrypted within.

He attempted to project what the end of days would look like, and the
role Jews would play when it happened.

Newton’s objective curiosity in Judaism and the Holy Land contrasted
with the anti-Jewish sentiment expressed by many leading Christian
scholars of the era, Levy-Rubin said.

‘He took a great interest in the Jews, and we found no negative
expressions toward Jews in his writing,’ said Levy-Rubin. ‘He said the
Jews would ultimately return to their land.’

But the university rejected his nonscientific papers, so the family
auctioned them off at Sotheby’s in London in 1936.

As chance would have it, London’s other main auction house — Christie’s
— was selling a collection of Impressionist art the same day that
attracted far more attention.

Only two serious bidders arrived for the Newton collection that day. The
first was renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes, who bought
Newton’s alchemy manuscripts.

The second was Abraham Shalom Yahuda — a Jewish Oriental Studies
scholar — who got Newton’s theological writings.

Mr Yahuda’s collection was bequeathed to the National Library of Israel
in 1969, some years after his death.

The library exhibited the papers for the first time in 2007, and now
they are available for everyone to see — free of charge –on the
internet
<http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/Humanities/Pages/newton.aspx>.

The collection contains hundreds of pages of Newton’s flowing
handwriting on fraying parchment in 18th-century English.

Two versions in modern typeface are also available for easier reading.

A ‘diplomatic’ one includes changes and corrections Newton made in the
original manuscript, and a ‘clean’ version incorporates the corrections.

All of the papers are linked to the Newton Project, which is hosted by
the University of Sussex and includes other collections of Newton’s
writings.

The Israeli library says the manuscripts help illuminate Newton’s
science and well as his persona.

‘As far as Newton was concerned, his approach was that history was as
much a science as physics. His world view was that his “lab” for
understanding history was the holy books,’ said Levy-Rubin.

‘His faith was no less important to him than his science.’

…………………

*RELATED LINKS:*

.Newton Manuscripts
<http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/Humanities/Pages/newton.aspx>
.Wikipedia on Isaac Newton <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton>