The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #23446   Message #260635
Posted By: Bagpuss
19-Jul-00 - 05:56 AM
Thread Name: Shoulders of Giants
Subject: RE: Shoulders of Giants
Newton said it, but it was actually an insult to someone else (maybe someone out there remembers who?). Someone accused Newton of stealing his ideas, and Newton said "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants". This was not only a reference to the fact that Newton thought this scientist was no intellectual giant (and he had got his ideas from much greater men), but also that this man was very short.

Bagpuss