Podcasts Education Self-Improvement Conversations with Tyler Patricia Fara on Newton, Scientific Progress, and the Benefits of Unhistoric Acts

Patricia Fara on Newton, Scientific Progress, and the Benefits of Unhistoric Acts

Published: Feb. 24, 2021, 1 p.m.

Patricia Fara is a historian of science at Cambridge University and well-known for her writings on women in science. Her forthcoming book, Life After Gravity: Isaac Newton's London Career, details the life of the titan of the so-called Scientific Revolution after his famous (though perhaps mythological) discovery under the apple tree. Her work emphasizes science as a long, continuous process composed of incremental contributions\u2013in which women throughout history have taken a crucial part\u2013rather than the sole province of a few monolithic innovators.

Patricia joined Tyler to discuss why Newton left Cambridge to run The Royal Mint, why he was so productive during the Great Plague,\xa0 why the \u201cScientific Revolution\u201d should instead be understood as a gradual process, what the Antikythera device tells us about science in the ancient world, the influence of Erasmus Darwin on his grandson, why more people should know Dorothy Hodgkin, how George Eliot inspired her to commit unhistoric acts, why she opposes any kind of sex-segregated schooling, her early experience in a startup, what modern students of science can learn from studying Renaissance art, the reasons she considers Madame Lavoisier to be the greatest female science illustrator, the unusual work habit brought to her attention by house guests, the book of caricatures she\u2019d like to write next, and more.

Read a\xa0full transcript\xa0enhanced with helpful links, or watch the\xa0full video.

Recorded January 15th, 2021

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