Isaac Newton

Newton surfaces in Kyle’s reading mostly through a single line that recurs as a touchstone for intellectual humility and cumulative knowledge. In Charlie Munger — Harvard School Commencement Speech, Munger quotes him — “If I have seen a little farther than other men, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants” — tagged under #Quotes, alongside Benjamin Franklin’s “They that won’t be counseled, can’t be helped.” Newton also appears in The Faith of a Scientist as a believing scientist whose work on light and mechanics coexisted with his religious writing.

Context: Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727) was the English mathematician and physicist who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation, co-invented calculus, and did foundational work in optics. He also wrote extensively on theology and biblical chronology. The “shoulders of giants” line is from a 1675 letter to Robert Hooke.

Where this appears

• Charlie Munger — Harvard School Commencement Speech — quoted on standing “on the shoulders of giants,” grouped with other maxims on humility and heeding counsel.
• The Faith of a Scientist — cited as a scientist whose belief in a Creator sat alongside his work on light and mechanics.