Many people quote Newton by saying:
“If I have seen further than other (wo)men”, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants”.
This truly is poetic when viewed in the light that most people use it. However, Newton hated somebody by the name of Liebniz. In fact, he wrote his famous book Principia Mathematica in an overly complicated way to try to confuse Liebniz so he had a more difficult time taking credit for Newton’s work. They were competing for getting the credit for who figured out the revolutionary ways of calculus.
Well, funny or not funny enough, Liebniz was short in stature, thus if Newton had seen further than others, it wasn’t because he stood on the shoulders of Liebniz.
We are not 100% sure if Newton meant it in this hidden way but it sure would shed a dark side to Newton. Another interesting fact about Newton that not a lot of people know is that he was a closet alchemist. Back then, it was considered highly frowned upon to be affiliated with it – like the dark arts. He was known for helping to catch those who were forging coins as well..
Sincerely,
Pharmacoengineering.com