Jed Buchwald: Isaac Newton and the Philosophy of Science | Lex Fridman Podcast #214

A German polymath who independently developed a form of calculus, which is the notation used today, leading to a long-standing controversy with Newton.

A French scientist and politician, involved in expeditions for the metric system, who later became a major administrator of science and was a rival of Jean-Baptiste Biot.

A leading analyst of Newton's optics, who recently completed full annotations and analysis of Newton's work.

A theoretical physicist famous for his theories of relativity, whose 'miraculous year' of scientific publications in 1905 is discussed.

A professor of history and a philosopher of science at Caltech, specializing in the development of scientific concepts and instruments.

An English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, and theologian who is considered one of the most influential scientists of all time. His work on optics, motion, and calculus is extensively discussed.

An astronomer whose laws of planetary motion were used by Newton in his work on the solar system, particularly in reverse-engineering techniques.

A French scientist who deployed advanced calculus forms of mathematics to develop the wave theory of light, enabling new computations and observations.

A theoretical physicist at Caltech, known for his contributions in gravitation physics and astrophysics.

Medieval theologian who reformulated Aristotle's ideas, influencing scholastic ways of thinking about the world.

Isaac Newton's niece who came to run his household when he moved to London and later married John Conduitt, who managed Newton's legacy.

An Irish archbishop, scholar, and chronologist, best known for his chronology that dated the creation of the world to 4004 BCE.

A philosopher whose work 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions' introduced the concept of paradigm shifts in science. Buchwald was his research assistant.

An English scientist credited with introducing the wave theory of light, though it primarily took off in France with Augustin-Jean Fresnel.

An Italian astronomer and physicist whose work on motion was discussed, noting that his ideas evolved and convinced people by enabling new discoveries.

French military leader and emperor whose defeat at Waterloo in 1815 led to Augustin-Jean Fresnel returning home from the army.

A famous theoretical physicist and cosmologist who also held the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics until his death.

A professor at Indiana who has reproduced alchemical experiments described by Newton, including the shiny 'star regulus'.

A talented English experimental scientist, architect, and philosopher who often conflicted with Isaac Newton, known for his work in microscopy and early theories of light.

A young astronomer sent by the Royal Society to Danzig to verify Hevelius's astronomical observations, confirming their accuracy.

A French chemist and politician. Lex Fridman misidentifies him as Jean-Baptiste Biot, though the correct name mentioned by Jed Buchwald is Jean-Baptiste Biot.

A chemist and scientist who worked on heat, whose discoveries were somewhat independent of the development of the steam engine.

The host of the podcast, who engages in a conversation with Jed Buchwald.

A French mathematician and philosopher who was a mechanical philosopher, believing the world was matter in motion and initially thought little of Galileo's work.

A physicist and Nobel laureate, co-founder of the Standard Model, with whom Buchwald disagrees on the extent to which science has probed the depths of reality.

A scholar who found a Leibniz manuscript, the 'Tentamen,' suggesting Leibniz reverse-engineered Newton's Principia for his mechanics.

A French physicist and astronomer who investigated polarization in optics and had a significant rivalry with François Arago.

A Dutch scientist, older than Newton, who developed the first pendulum-governed clock and is known for Huygens' Principle in optics.

18th-century philosopher whose ideas about the limits of human knowledge regarding unknowable reality are referenced.

A wealthy brewer in Danzig who built a large observatory and published a highly accurate new catalog of stars using only his eyes.

An architect and mathematician who, along with Hooke, contributed to early ideas about gravity as a magnetic relationship.

A French mathematician and astronomer, leader of French science, who was pressured by Arago to acknowledge his work.

Newton's relative by marriage (husband of Catherine Barton) who played a role in controlling Newton's legacy after his death.

The first Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge who recognized Newton's genius and stepped down to allow Newton to take the position.

A foundational work by Thomas Kuhn, published in 1962, outlining the idea of paradigmatic shifts in scientific progress.

A book by Robert Hooke which featured the first depictions of magnified objects, influencing early scientific observation.

Isaac Newton's monumental work detailing his laws of motion, universal gravitation, and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

A relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics, forming the basis of the Standard Model.

A long-standing belief in physics about a hypothetical, single, all-encompassing theoretical framework of physics.

An early modern chemical structure, similar to alchemy, that Isaac Newton extensively worked on.

A prestigious professorship at the University of Cambridge, held by both Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking.

A destructive weapon mentioned in the context of large-scale, elaborate equipment needed for 20th-century scientific endeavors, contrasting with earlier experimental methods.

Newton's theory that light is a stream of particles, primarily held in the 17th-18th centuries before the broader acceptance of the wave theory of light.

The cosmological model that describes the early development of the Universe, discussed in relation to the origins of physical laws.

An expansion formula that Newton generalized, leading him to develop concepts foundational to calculus.

Newton's book on light and color, focusing on his experimental discoveries and theories, with a largely geometric approach.

A theoretical framework in physics proposing that point-like particles are actually one-dimensional 'strings,' but lacks direct experimental evidence.

A fundamental theorem of probability theory stating that the average of a large number of independent, identically distributed random variables will be approximately normally distributed, regardless of the underlying distribution.

A theory in particle physics that describes the fundamental forces and particles, acknowledged as highly accurate but not necessarily a complete description of reality.

An invention, particularly the Watt engine, that arose somewhat independently of scientific theories but greatly impacted manufacturing and device construction.

A scientific society in London where Robert Hooke demonstrated new findings and where Newton later became president.

The institution where Jed Buchwald teaches and where he consults with friends like Kip Thorne on physics concepts.

The university where Isaac Newton studied, became a fellow, and was the second Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

The institution where Jed Buchwald previously ran an institute, and where Thomas Kuhn was in the philosophy department.

The first polytechnic school, founded in France during the French Revolution, analogous to MIT or Caltech.

An ancient practice considered a precursor to modern chemistry, involving the manipulation of materials in artificially constructed ways to understand nature.

A mode of transport mentioned as an example of an invention that would need to be introduced to Newton for him to grasp later scientific concepts.