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On Jan 12, 2004, at 4:26 PM, Bullard, Claude L (Len) wrote:
>
>
> STimBL deserves the knighthood. So does James Clark.
> Perhaps so did Mick and Paul, but that isn't a historical
> profundity as much as a sign of what a knighthood means
> to the folks who make those choices.
>
Indeed. Isaac Newton's knighthood is popularly thought to be a
recognition of his scientific achievements, but is more likely due to
the patronage of Charles Montague, Earl of Halifax. The most
charitable interpretation would be that he was honored for his service
to the Mint; the most likely was that he was honored for his service to
Halifax's political career. The least charitable would be to note that
Newton's niece was Halifax's mistress :-)
see James Glieck's recent biography of Newton and
http://home.att.net/~newtuniv/newtonbio.html
But I suppose John Cowan has read the primary sources in his spare time
and will debunk this :-)
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