Newton 2000: Newtonian Studies in the New Millennium

—a conference organized by James E. Force, University of Kentucky; Sarah Hutton, Middlesex University; and Peter Reill, University of California, Los Angeles

Sir Isaac Newton’s preeminence in the history of science remains fixed, yet the picture we have of him has been changing rapidly, as scholars have increasingly taken cognizance of those aspects of Newton that have lain hidden in his unpublished manuscripts. At the dawn of the new millennium researchers find themselves poised to launch the greatest revolution yet in Newton studies, as an international team of scholars is being assembled to publish all of Newton’s widely scattered unpublished papers. The purpose of this Clark conference on Newton is to review the current state of scholarship and to prepare the ground for the revolution in Newton studies that the publication of his manuscripts will bring about. Several of the proposed speakers are eminent scholars connected with the Newton papers project. All of the speakers have been selected because of their knowledge of the state of Newtonian scholarship and for their expertise on this seminal figure who embodies so many of the paradoxical patterns of the Enlightenment.