Women on Newton Coinciding with the inclusion of the Scientific and Mathematical Papers of Sir Isaac Newton in the Unesco Memory of the World Register, Women on Newton was a series of lectures given at Cambridge University Library in 2017, by women scholars, about the world and legacy of the natural philosopher Isaac Newton (1642-1727).
Lecture 1 Newton and the Longitude Speaker: Dr Rebekah Higgitt This lecture took place on 30 November 2017 (16.30–18.00)
Summary Isaac Newton is often thought of as an isolated genius working on purely abstract scientific problems. Yet he and his work were often closely linked to practical and political worlds. Nowhere is this more clear than when we look at Newton's role in the story of finding longitude at sea, revealed in the Library's archive.
About the speaker Dr Rebekah Higgitt is a Senior Lecturer in History of Science at the University of Kent. She is author of Recreating Newton (2007) and co-author of Finding Longitude (2014) and was one of the curators of the National Maritime Museum's 2014 exhibition, Ships, Clocks & Stars: The Quest for Longitude. She is currently the Principal Investigator on a research project, Metropolitan Science: Places, Objects and Cultures of Practice and Knowledge in London, 1600-1800, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and in collaboration with the Science Museum.
