Newton’s Apple Tree Headed to Space *
Isaac Newton’s Apple Tree to Experience Zero Gravity – in Space **
Newton’s Apple Tree Bound for Gravity-Free Orbit ***
Have you come across enthusiastic headlines and captions like the ones above, for the past week or so, in dailies, weeklies, blogs et al?
No? Well then, allow me to be the bearer of some exciting and interesting tidings.
Remember the illustrious apple tree underneath which young (twenty-three year old) Isaac Newton, physicist and mathematician, sat one afternoon, mulling over all the concepts, ideas and notions vying for attention inside his head?
And then the aforementioned tree deemed it the right moment to plop an apple next to him. If it were any other mere mortal, I think s/he would have picked up the apple, dusted the dirt off, taken a crunchy bite out of it and gone on with their musings.
Not so our man of the moment, Sir Isaac Newton. The wheels of his mind began to turn faster: Now, why did that apple fall straight to the ground? Why did it not travel sideways a bit before it fell? Or, why did it not just fly upwards?
A light bulb went off inside his head: Of course! It is because earth pulls things towards it.
And from thence was born: The Universal Law of Gravitation.
Are you going, at this point, “Hmm… Hema’s nattering on as if she has been sitting right next to Newton when the apple fell, and heard him think these questions out loud. What baloney!”
No, of course, I wasn’t there myself, but here’s what William Stukeley, one of the first biographers of Sir Isaac Newton, said as told to him by the subject of his biography himself:*
It was occasion’d by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood. Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground, thought he to himself … Why should it not go sideways, or upwards? But constantly to the earth’s center? Assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. There must be a drawing power in matter.
Where does the apple tree in space enter into the picture? I’m coming to just that.
British-born NASA astronaut Piers Sellers carried with him a 4-inch sliver of the apple tree, beneath which Newton sat those 350 years ago, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its final mission. (The shuttle is currently on a 12-day mission that began on the afternoon of Friday, the 14th of May, at 2:20 P.M. EDT, to deliver some hardware to the International Space Station.)
Sellers is flying the piece of wood for the Royal Society of London, of which Newton was a former president. It seems that this piece of tree has written on it, in 18th century lettering, the words:
I-S-dot-Newton
Fourth generation scion of the tree from Woolsthorpe Manor, Newton’s childhood home
Now, isn’t that exciting? What do you think Newton would have said if he were around? He definitely would have approved.
The piece of the tree will be returned to the Royal Society following the Atlantis’s return to earth from the twelve-day flight.
Now, here’s my question for the day, dear readers:
If you were given the chance to pick one thing that would be made part of a time capsule to be buried (don’t know how that would be done, but let’s just leave it at that for now) in space for extra terrestrials to find, what would you choose?
My answer: A bottle of water from the Pacific Ocean. Why? Because some of the earliest forms of life on earth are believed to have originated inside the ocean.
There’s also another aspect to water on earth that intrigues me no end. What exactly is it? That’s a whole another post for another day! :)
* – CBS News
** – The Guardian
*** – NPR
NASA’s Mission Page – Has videos of the lift-off of the shuttle and in-depth information about the mission.
This was a great post Hema, I didn’t know about that but it sounds fascinating!
What I would bring to the time capsule to be buried in space for extra terrestrials to find? That’s funny, we were just discussing the same thing with friends the other day over coffee :) and I said- a string of hair so they can recreate me from my DNA and I would continue to tell stories ;)
‘What do you think Newton would have said if he were around?’
He would have shouted ‘Eureka’ and come out of the bathtub in his birthday suit. :-)
Great post. That sure was a lucky apple in that it ended up being part of history and not part of his entrails.
Greetings from London.
Thanks, Lua! Now, about your creative idea of including your hair in the time capsule (and what’re the odds of your discussing this recently with your friends? I’m telling you, this blogging world has too many deja vu moments), you’re braver than I am is all I can say! I’m not sure I’d want to live amongst a bunch of green people who might be uber-offended by my sense of humor and stories! Who knows which shape their punishments would assume then? ;-)
Ha..ha… Cuban! There’s a mishmash of images, but a good one :). Yup, we should all be thankful for that little green (read somewhere that it was a green one) apple that fell away from Newton’s head — what if it fell right on top of his head and conked him out or worse yet, gave him concussion, which made him forget all the theories he was trying to formulate? :>)
Like Lua, I didn’t know this as well! I’m always learning such fascinating things when visiting your blog.
That’s such a sweet thing to say, June. Thank you! :)
Great post, Hema! That’s really interesting! Think about it: the thing that helped prove gravity is going into a no-gravity zone!
I would probably put a shark bone in the time capsule since they were one of the first creatures on this earth.
Wonderful post. I love time capsules! I love seeing little bits and pieces from the past. We went to what was called an antique store on Saturday. LOL I think the oldest thing in there was from the 1950’s, most of the stuff was from the 70’s…
Hema, you are amazing! I love your posts. You come up with so many interesting subjects. Sorry I haven’t been around. Still fighting the dental demons, but I do love visiting your blog.
What would I put in a time-capsule? Why, a can filled with seeds. Seeds would give whoever found them the opportunity (presuming they could read or listen to instructions) to experience some of the wonderful foods and beauty we enjoy around the world.
Thank you, Hema, for a very inspiring and thoughtful subject.
~ Yaya
Yaya’s Home
Thank you, Kathy! A shark bone? That’s a good one!
I love antique stores, too, Sharon! They are my ticket to the past without time travel. Do I consider things from 60 years ago antiques? No! Especially since even the most common things lying around the house, where I come from, are at least a few hundred years old :).
You’re so sweet, Yaya! Thanks! Seeds? That’s a good one — now like you said, who knows what would come out of our seeds in another world, right? Therein lies a plot for a sci-fi book? ;) Hope you feel better soon!!
Good question, Hema… I’m not too fond of humans and what we will leave behind (I’ve read “The world without us”, it’s quite scary!). I guess water and a piece of soil would do for your time capsule. Hoping the new live doesn’t go awry like this civilization! ;-)
Thought provoking post as usual Hema! You do have your finger(s) on the pulse(s) of both Literary and Science worlds.
I would leave a bunch of pictures in my capsule. We will provide the proof that we existed, but let them try and make heads or tails out of those pics ;-).
RK
Ha…ha, Barb! So, my guess is that you are working on a dark, fantastical, apocalyptic screenplay. Am I right? And water & soil — great choices! Isn’t it interesting that almost all of us want to propagate the species on earth via this exercise?
Thanks, RK! You’re all making me blush today :). And pictures? How interesting! I never even thought about that! I can almost picture green goblin-like creatures making weird sounds, passing the pictures amongst them, scratching their heads. :)
no, I’ve given up sci-fi AND screenwriting! But I’ve added some years of history to my fantasy world, so now the complete puzzle spans 1500 years! ;-)
And my theme is: Humans destroy everything beautiful or magic (i.e. the Magical Races of my world)… no apocalypse, but they lose a lot! :-D
Got it! :-)
Very interesting post, Hema! That’s a good question. I like your answer about the water from the Pacific Ocean, but since that’s already taken, how about a cell phone? They wouldn’t know what to do with it, but I think it’s a good representation of today’s society (at least, American society).
A nice, humorous, interesting post. Good blog Hema.
Not sure what I would leave in time-capsule. Few things come to mind but when I dig deeper nothing seems as important. So I guess I will to get back to you on that. :-)
Thanks, Susan! A cell phone? Very interesting! I think cell phones have taken almost the whole world.
But the aliens may go: “What is this antique toy doing here?”, because most of our movies depict them as always being technologically much more advanced than us. (They have to be, if they have traveled across light years and found us, right?) :)
Thanks, SK! Feel free to come on over and let me know when you think of something! ;)