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Newton's Astronomical Apprenticeship: Notes of 1664/5 Author(s): J. E. McGuire, Martin Tamny, Newton Source: Isis, Vol. 76, No. 3 (Sep., 1985), pp. 349-365 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/232857 . Accessed: 27/05/2011 05:16
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DOCUMENTS & TRANSLATIONS
Newton's

Astronomical of

Notes Apprenticeship:

1664/5

By J. E. McGuire* and Martin Tamny**
NEWTON'S LAST YEAR as an undergraduate at Trinity College, DURING Cambridge, he began a self-directed study of astronomy, apparently prompted by his observations of the comet of December 1664. That he was a novice at the time of his earliest report ofthe "comet," on 10 December, is evident from his failure to identify it correctly in the crowded night sky and from his specification of its mistaken position in relation to the moon's center. Newton must have realized his errors, however, since that entry is decisively canceled. By the time of his second report, on 17 December, he had correctly located the comet, had investigated reports of othercomets, and had learned something of the language appropriate to their description. From that point on, he progressed steadily in his astronomical studies. The focus of this study will be the period of six months beginning from these first reports to mid 1665-that is, the time that Newton began to master astronomy. Chapter 7 of our Certain Philosophical Questions: Newton's Trinity Notebook tellspart of the story, but limitations of space made it impossible to include all our findings in that volume.1 The major source for understanding this early period of Newton's intellectual development is a small notebook that he kept while pursuing his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. This notebook is in the manuscript collection of University Library, Cambridge, where it is known by itsclassmark as Add. 3996. The notebook contains Greek and Latin notes largely drawn from sources prescribed by the university curriculum; two folios of notes on Descartes's Meditations; a large and systematic set of notes and reflections on matters outside the curriculum, which Newton entitled Questiones quaedam Philosophicae; and, lastly, a set of astronomical notes. In Certain Philosophical Questions wedealt with the astronomical contents of the Questiones. Here we shall add the astronomical notes to our discussion.
I. THE COMETARY NOTES

The comet of December 1664 was by all accounts spectacular. It was first cited as early as 4 December near the constellation of Crater. The earliest report in
* Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh,...