Quick answer“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” is a famous quote by Isaac Newton. It comes from Letter to Robert Hooke, 5 February 1676. In a 1676 letter to Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton wrote that if he had seen further, it was by standing on the shoulders of giants.
In a 1676 letter to Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton wrote that if he had seen further, it was by standing on the shoulders of giants. The line has become the classic statement of how science builds on earlier work.
Origin: Written by Newton in a letter to Robert Hooke dated 5 February 1676 (5 February 1675 in the Old Style calendar then used in England, when the new year began in March). The manuscript, held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, spells it 'sholders'. Newton was replying to a conciliatory letter from Hooke after their dispute over optics. The image itself was far older: in 1159 John of Salisbury recorded his teacher Bernard of Chartres saying that scholars are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants.
Key facts
| Quote | “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” |
|---|---|
| Author | Isaac Newton |
| Source | Letter to Robert Hooke, 5 February 1676 |
| Themes | wisdom, science |
| Language | English |
Overview
Newton was replying to a conciliatory letter from Hooke, with whom he had quarrelled over optics. Hooke had proposed that they settle their differences privately, and Newton answered politely, praising Descartes and crediting Hooke's work on the colours of thin plates. Then came the famous sentence, in Newton's spelling: 'If I have seen further it is by standing on the sholders of Giants.' Some writers have read it as a sly insult, since Hooke was short and stooped, but there is no evidence for that in the letter, and most historians take it as a sincere, if guarded, compliment. Newton did not invent the image. In 1159 John of Salisbury wrote that his teacher Bernard of Chartres used to say scholars are like dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants, seeing further only because they are lifted up. Newton's version gave the old image its most famous English form.
Frequently asked questions
When did Newton write this?
On 5 February 1676, in a letter to Robert Hooke. The letter is dated 5 February 1675, because in England at the time the new year began in March, not January. By the modern calendar the date is 15 February 1676. The manuscript is held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Did Newton invent the phrase?
No. The image of dwarfs on the shoulders of giants goes back at least to the twelfth century. In 1159 John of Salisbury recorded that his teacher Bernard of Chartres used it to describe how later scholars see further than the ancients. Newton's letter gave the old image its most famous English wording.
Was Newton insulting Hooke?
Probably not. Some writers suggest the line was a dig at Hooke, who was short and stooped, but nothing in the letter supports that reading. Newton was answering a friendly letter from Hooke and praised his work in the same paragraph. Most historians read the sentence as a courteous acknowledgement, however guarded.
What is the exact wording?
Newton wrote: 'If I have seen further it is by standing on the sholders of Giants.' The spelling 'sholders' is his own. Modern printings usually correct it to 'shoulders', and the shorter form, 'If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants', is the version most people quote.
Related quotes
- “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” — Isaac Newton
- “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” — William Shakespeare
- “An expert is a person who has found out by his own painful experience all the mistakes that one can make in a very narrow field.” — Niels Bohr
- “Brevity is the soul of wit.” — William Shakespeare
- “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth.” — Archimedes
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Last updated: . Figures are shown with their year; where sources disagree, the value is left out rather than estimated.