One might expect that our knowledge about a figure as well known and influential as Isaac Newton would be in a settled state after some three hundred years of historical research. The present session reveals the reality to be quite the contrary. The world of Newton scholarship is in a state of radical ferment. Online, digitized editions have over the last two decades brought literally millions of words of original Newtonian material to light, much of it previously available only in manuscript form. The combined resources made available by The Newton Project (Oxford University) and the Chymistry of Isaac Newton project (Indiana University) have made it possible to compose major new books that substantially revise, and in some instances overturn the existing views on Newton in a variety of fields. Mordechai Feingold and Jed Buchwald (chair of the session) wrote a foundational new study of Newton’s work on ancient chronology in 2012. Rob Iliffe’s substantial new book on Newton’s religion appeared in 2017. William Newman’s forthcoming book on Newton’s alchemy is appearing in 2018. Alan Shapiro’s ongoing work on Newton’s optics continues to explore the boundaries between the mathematical, physical, and philosophical realms of Newton’s work. Where does all this new research leave us? Does a single, unified thinker emerge, or rather a polymath who pursued multiple fields without attempting to combine them into a single purview? This session brings together four leading scholars in the attempt to address that issue.
