Newton was convinced that he alone had been given a gift to unravel the mysteries of the Universe, whether through science, religion or alchemy, and maintained an unrivaled cloak of secrecy over all three.
But there must have been something that Newton was especially desperate to keep secret - taking it with him to the Grave. He burned boxfuls of papers just weeks before his death. What could he have been so desperate to destroy?
Modern psychiatrists now suggest that this act, along with many of his other characteristics were driven by Asperger’s Syndrome and that in fact, he was the most classic case of Asperger’s Syndrome in history.
Keith Moore - Head of Library and Archives at the Royal Society
Keith Moore is Head of Library and Archives at the Royal Society and presides over the wealth of Newton Manuscripts, documents and artefacts. He has a vast knowledge of the history of the Royal Society and the part played by Newton and his contemporaries and how they worked to change the course of scientific history.
Michael Fitzgerald - Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin
Michael Fitzgerald is professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin. He was the first Profesor Of Child Psychiartry in Ireland. A Clinical and Research Consultant to the Irish Society for Autism and an Honorary member of the Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations, he has a doctorate in the area of autism and has been a researcher in this area since 1973. Professor Fitzgerald has researched and written extensively on eminent scientists, mathematicians and artists throughout history whose abilities and behaviour have allowed him to make judgements on the likelihood of them appearing the on autism spectrum. From this research, it has become clear to him that Newton had the condition
Professor William Newman - Leading expert on Newton’s alchemical work
William R. Newman is the Ruth Halls Professor of History & Philosophy of Science at Indiana State University. His main research interests focus on early modern “chymistry” and late medieval “alchemy,” especially as exemplified by Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Daniel Sennert, and the first famous American scientist, George Starkey. Professor Newman’s research has also focussed on studying and decoding Isaac Newton’s papers on chymistry experiments and studying the links between this and his pioneering scientific work which has until now not been fully understood.
Rob Iliffe - Professor of Intellectual History and the History of Science in the Department of History at the University of Sussex
Rob Iliffe is Professor of Intellectual History and the History of Science in the Department of History at the University of Sussex. He has published a number of articles on early modern history and the history of science, and has written the Very Short Introduction to Newton. He is Editorial director of the online Newton Project, director of the AHRC Newton Theological Papers Project and is also editor of the journal History of Science. Prof. Iliffe's main research interests include: the history of science 1550-1800; the role of science and technology in the 'Rise of the West'; techno-scientific and other roots of the current environmental crisis; historical interactions between science and religion; and the theological and scientific work of Isaac Newton
Newton was more passionate about the bible than any of his other subjects. He devoted more time to this study than anything else and was convinced that the Holy Scripture contained vast amounts of hidden codes. From his research he calculated the date of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ as April 3, A.D. 33, that the Earth would end in 2060 and that the Jews would one day return to Israel.
Isaac Newton is had a deep interest in Alchemy and wrote around 169 books dealing with the subject and its characteristics. Isaac Newton’s aim was to find the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life through his research and experiments.
Isaac was born early. His mother said that he was so small he could have been put him in a quart jug!
Between 1665 and 1667 the University of Cambridge was dispersed due to The great Plague. Newton returned to his home of Woolsthorpe manner where he worked in private and solitude.
Newton had a notorious, fiery bad temper and found himself in numerous conflicts with others. In particular Hooke and Leibinz.
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