The famous apple-tree story, from a manuscript by one of Newton's friends:
"After dinner, the weather being warm, we went into the garden and drank tea, under the shade of some apple trees. [Newton] told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. It was occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood.
'Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,' thought he to himself. 'Why should it not go sideways, or upwards? But constantly to the earth's centre? Assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. There must be a drawing power in matter.'"
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Younger offspring padded in and climbed into bed with us at 5:58 this morning. In a rare show of solidarity (or alertness), younger offspring was the one to hit the "snooze" button when the alarm went off at 6:00.
Dr. Free-Ride: Good morning.
I'm writing this on an Apple Computer (a MacBook Pro). I've been using Apple products since 1981. I love (heart?) New York, too. Great city, full of energy. Few cities equal it in my opinion (Paris or Barcelona maybe).
R. W. Apple has passed away, apparently after having planned out the menu for his funeral.
Google and Apple, you ruined my daughter's birthday!
Well, it wasn't that bad, but it could have been. Anyway, this is a warning to anyone who uses Apple products of any kind and who uses gmail as their main mail.
If you like this, check out the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions, and their (comparatively) recent Trailblazing website that links to the original papers for some old and very famous science published there. (I've linked to my own article about this under my name.) It's great reading some of these old accounts. The English can be very florid, quaint (to our eyes), yet still readable.