On: Why is the mouse cursor slightly tilted and not st...

[wolverine876]

Newton was a mathematician and arguably the most important scientist in history. I recommend his biography - it's amazing reading.

[anonymouskimmer → wolverine876]

I'm the kind of person who is completely disinterested in biographies.

[wolverine876 → anonymouskimmer]

Fine, but then why talk about Newton if you are aware you know nothing about them? Talk about what you know.

[anonymouskimmer → wolverine876]

It's not as if I haven't been exposed to his laws of motion in physics courses. I just think of them as more math (or heck, even philosophy) than science.

[wolverine876 → anonymouskimmer]

I'm always interested in unique perspectives, but at the same time, English has a meaning outside any individual's concept of it.

> Newton was ... not a scientist.

That has a meaning, and its false. Whatever you personally think of it, Newton was a scientist. I don't love a wild goose chase.

[anonymouskimmer → wolverine876]

I guess so. It's hard for me to think of anyone prior to about the mid 1800s as a scientist, but sure, he qualifies by the standards of the day.

I still don't understand why people view Linnaeus' classification as scientific though. I guess maybe because it functioned as a hypothesis of common descent later on?