192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D u pletes deChristiaanHuygens.Ontheother hand,itmustinfairness death ofNewton,into the possessionofMr.Conduitt,whohadmarried useful ;butofmuchgreaterimportanceisthe “CatalogueofthePorts- mouth CollectionofBooksandPaperswritten by,orbelongingto,Sir Isaac Newton,”Cambridge, 1888,86pp.Thesepaperscame,on the Isaac Newton”(Cambridge,1907),thoughnot withoutfaults,isvery Isaac Hewton. prospective editors.G,J.Gray’sBibliography oftheworksSir reprinted byCastiglione.TheonlyeditionofNewton’sOperaOmnia by Horsleyofunpublishedmaterial,whilethereisanentireabsence published in1779-1785,fivequartovolumes.Butthiseditionis Arithmetica Universalisintwovolumes(Amsterdam,1761);butI Mathematica, PhilosophicaetPhilologica(Lausanne,1744),andthe Newton, I^munabletosay.TherearethreevolumesofOpuscula Castiglione, butwhetheritincludesallthewritingspublishedby Nazionale ofFavaro, Albèri’s editionofGalileo,whichisnowquitesuperseded bytheEdizione nor arethereanylistsofvariantsthedifferenteditionspublished introductions andnotes.Notawordissaidastowhenunder cannot findanysignofthePrincipiaandOpticshavingbeen have beenissued.ThefirstonewaseditedbyanItaliannamed Newton andduringthattimeonlytwoeditionsofhiscollectedworks more. Butthegreatestnameofallismissingfromlist,that standard editionsalludedtoabove,suchasthe magnificentŒuvrescom- old editionbecomeveryglaring,whenonecompares itwithanyofthe during thelifetimeofNewton.Thepovertyandinsufficiencythis what conditionsthevariousbooksandpaperswereoriginallyissued, very farfromfulfillingmodernrequirements.Verylittleusewasmade approaching completenesswaseditedbySamuelHorsley,and collected worksofgreatseientiñeleaderspublishedinstandardeditions. to Horsleybeconcededthathisworkisnot worsethan,forinstance, Kepler, Galileo,Torricelli,Descartes,Fermat,Huygens,Leibniz, from about1500to1800,wefindthatfineeditionshavebeenpublished Euler, Lagrange,Laplace,WilliamHersche],andperhapsoneortwo within thelastsixtyyearsofworksCopernicus,TychoBrahe, Confining ourselvestoastronomersandmathematicianstheperiod 298 Delivered bythePresident,Dr.J.L.E.Dreyer,onDesirabilityof In threeyears’time200yearswillhaveelapsedsincethedeathof Let usglanceatthematerialwhichwould be atthedisposalof Of lateyearsastrongdesirehasbeenfelteverywheretohavethe Publishing aNeicEditionofIsaacNeiotorisCollectedWorks. © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System The President'sAddress. ADDRESS LXXXIV. 4 192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D {Historical Essayonthe FirstPublicationofSirI.Newton’s‘Principia,’ to haveeveryline,writtenbyNewtononOptics, reprintedinchrono- London :Macmillan,1893). Astothepreparationofsecondedition by Pembertonin1726.Allthecircumstances ofthepublication logical order. the RoyalSocietyfrom1676.Itwilltherefore beofspecialinterest first editionhavebeencarefullydescribedintwo monographsbyRigaud will rememberthatthreeeditionswerepublished duringthelifetimeof should beillustratedbywhateverlettersmayfoundbearingonthis Oxford, 1838),andW. RouseBall{AnEssayonNeivtons‘Principia,’ Newton, thefirstin1687,seenthrough pressandprintedatthe many yearsuntilafterthedeathofHooke,owingtoNewton’sexcessive expense ofHalley;thesecondeditedbyCotes in1713;andthethird dislike ofpolemics,whichmadehimdiscontinue hiscommunicationsto subject. ThetreatiseonOpticswaskeptbackfrompublicationfor exactly astheywerefirstsenttotheRoyalSocietyorprinted,and Cambridge, a.d.1669”(London,1728).Alltheseshouldbepublished perhaps hardlybeworthwhiletoprintagain.TheworksonOptics leave asidethetheologicalandchronologicalpapers,whichitwould “ OpticalLectures,readinthePublickSchoolsofUniversity consist ofpaperspublishedinthePhilosophicalTransactions(6-11, Newton’s works. to decidehowmanyofthemshouldbeincorporatedinanewedition Optics, thePrincipia,andpapersbooksonpureMathematics.I chronologically arrangedcatalogueofthemshouldbeformed,inorder interest. presently refer.Apparentlythereisnothingelseofmuchimportance (correspondence withCotes),intheMacclesfieldCollection(wherethere many letterspreservedinotherplaces,atTrinityCollege,Cambridge among themathematicalpapers,exceptsomepointsofpurelyhistorical Feb. 1924.ThePresident'sAddress.299 College, Oxford,andelsewhere.Mostofthesehavebeenprinted,buta are alsootherpaperswhichhaveneverbeenexamined),atCorpusChristi 1672-1675); thegreatworkonOptickspublishedin1704;and details includedbythecommitteeintheirreport,towhichIshall only childtothefirstLordLymington,paperspassedintohands and nothingelsehasbeenprintedexceptafewexceedinglyinteresting biography ofNewton,nousehashithertobeenmadethesepapers, most valuableandlengthyreportcataloguearedated1888 Newton’s favouriteniece,CatherineBarton.Bythemarriageoftheir to theCambridgeUniversityLibrary.AllpapersonTheology, of thefamilyEarlPortsmouth,wheretheyremaineduntilall May 26.WiththeexceptionofsomelettersprintedinBrewster’s collection wasexaminedatCambridgebyacommitteeconsistingof that portionwhichrelatedtosciencewaspresentedbyLordPortsmouth where theyarebeingpreserved.Beforedivided,thewhole Chronology, andAlchemywerereturnedtoHurstbournePark,Hants, H. R.Luard,G.Stokes.J.C.Adams,andD.Liveing,whose If wenowturntothePrincipia,caseismore complicated.You The scientificwritingsofNewtonmaybedividedintothoseon In additiontothelettersinPortsmouthCollectionthereare © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System 192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D 0 zenith distance. Newton andsevensheetsofqueriesbyPemberton.Thesecondedition other eminentmen,fromtheoriginalsbelongingtoTrinityCollege, bÿ J.Edleston(London,1850),whichbookalsocontainslettersfrom we havetheCorrespondenceofSirI.NfiiotonandProfessorCotes,edited 300 was reprintedatAmsterdamin1714and1723.Thethirdedition Cambridge. Wearelesswellinformedaboutthethirdedition,but published byEdleston, weknowagreatdealabouthowthisedition has oftenbeenreprinted,withorwithoutcommentaries,thebestknown coiners andclippers. read oftheimmenseamountworkNewton didattheMint;ofhow altitudes o°,3,12°,and30°.Thepapersshowthatthewell-known investigation ofthemotionlunarapogee,madeapparentlyin being thatofLeSeurandJacquier,three(reallyfour)volumes,Geneva, Portsmouth Collectioncontainstwenty-threelettersfromPembertonto to Cotes.Thanks the correspondencebetweenhimandNewton, second editionofthe Principia hadtobeundertaken,handeditover write anofficiallettertohisownsatisfactionwithout firstwritingseveral volumes ofMintpapersinthePortsmouthCollection. Itisverysadto Report oftheRoyalCommissiononHistorical Manuscripts”(London, conscientious man,andworkedhardtoearnhis finesalary.The“Eighth afterwards bewastedonofficework,whichhundredsofpeoplecould edition ofthePrincipia,whichNewtonthoughtbringingoutin really duetoNewton.Theformulaisonlyapplicablewhenthe dealt withinthePrincipiaarediscussedmorefully.Thereisthusan drafts; andhowhehadtoseethedetection andprosecutionof much timehehadtospendonletter-writing, hardly everbeingableto able thatthetranscendentgeniusofNewtonshouldformanyyears This wasdoneinthecourseofafewyears,andevenifwegrant(what adulterated coinageofthecountryhadtoberestored,five Ball’s Essay. Theory, whichwereevidentlyintendedtobeinsertedinasecond employed byNewtonisequallyvalid,whateverbetheapparent object isnotverynearthehorizon,butmethodofcalculation approximate formulaforrefraction,generallyknownasBradley’s,was have doneequally(oratleastsufficiently)well.Newtonwasamost done byamanofmostunusualability,itisatanyrateutterlydeplor- mints hadtobeabolished,andtheworkatTowerreorganised. the officeofMaster,whichheheldforremainderhislife.The office ofWardentheMint,andthreeyearslaterhewaspromotedto In thatyear,tothegreatdetrimentofscience,Newtonaccepted few wouldbedisposedtodo)thatthisworkofreformcouldonly 1694. IthasbeenprintedbothbytheCommitteeandinMr.Rouse 1686. Thereisalsoadetailedcalculationoftherefractionat 1739-42, andagainin1760. 1881, fol.)givesalengthyaccountofthecontents ofthreelargefolio Finally, thepaperscontainalonglistofpropositionsinLunar It isnowonderthatNewton,whenatlast thepreparationofa Among thePortsmouthpapersthereareseveralinwhichsubjects All theseaddendatothePrincipiadatefrombeforeyear1696. © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System The President'sAddress. LXXXIV. 4, 192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D an not includethecelebratedbook,Commercium Epistolicum,ofwhich Newton quitecertainlywrotethe“Account” inthePhil.Trans.îov Analytica. in 1736.TheoriginalwasprintedbyHorsley withthetitleGeometria same time,wasatlasttranslatedintoEnglish andpublishedbyColson 1715* dforwhichhe suppliedallthematerials.Thereforehewas paper issuedinI7°4*TheMethodofFluxions, writtenaboutthe which hadbeenfoundasearly1665—66, was atlastgiventothe numero terminoruminfinitas,writtenin1669, buttheresultsof world. Thesubstanceofithad,however,been printedinthesecond papers writtenmanyyearsearlier,oneoncubiccurves,theother hand pages. the quadratureofcurvesandonfluxions.In1707hisArithmetica and theyare,unfortunately,notnumerous.Theyareallcontainedin positiones demotu”(printedbothbyRigaudandBall),which Horsley’s firstvolume.In1704NewtonappendedtohisOpticstwo pages oftheopenbook,givingalterationsandadditionsonleft- first printedin1728,againissued1731. Also thelittlebookDemundisystemaie,ashort,popularaccount contains thechiefpropositionsgivenbyNewtoninhislectures1684. thing todowouldbereprintthefirsteditiononright-hand indicated inanycriticaleditionofthePrincipia.Perhapsproper Universalis appeared,andin1712hispaper“Deanalysiperequationes observations inbookiii.” an accountofsomeadditionalexperimentsontheresistanceair to bodiesfallingthroughit,andtheuseofsomefreshastronomical on fluxions,bookii.,lemma2,andtheadditionofanewscholium but IbelievethatthebulkofthemaregiveninlistbyAdams, proposition ontheprecessionofequinoxes,bookiii.,prop.39;and the motionofmoon’snodes,bookiii.,prop.33,towhichImayadd have notformedalistofthechangesintroducedintothirdedition, which isprintedbyBrewster;*themostimportantbeingscholium the newprefacebyCotes;propositionsonresistanceoffluids, the propositionsontheoryofcomets,bookiii.,props.41,42.I modified inthesecondedition.Themostimportantalterationsare possess inmanuscriptalistoftheadditionsandvariationsmade book ii.,sectionvii.,props.34-40;thelunartheoryiniii. the 494(i.e.510-16)pagesinfirstedition,397aremoreorless second edition;thechangesareverynumerous,infactIfindthatof of thePrincipiashould,Ithink,showchangesmadeinsecond Feb. 1924. edition, andthefurtherchangesintroducedinthirdedition.I was produced.Newton’smanuscriptcorrectionsofit,usedforthe third edition,areinthePortsmouthCollection. u u Finally, noeditionofNewton’sworkswould be completewhichdid In connectionwiththePrincipiaImaymentiontractPro- We comenexttoNewton’spublicationsonAlgebraandFluxions, All thesevariantsareofgreatimportance,andshouldbeclearly Mr. RouseBallwrotein1893(Essay,p.74):Acompleteedition © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System * Brewster(1855),2304-309, 414-419. r The President’sAddress. 301 192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D , 302 proposed edition(whocannotbeexpectedtohavestudiedtheHistory principle ofindivisibleswasadistinctimprovementontheGreek responsible forthisbook,whichwasnominallytheworkofacommittee half oftheseventeenthcenturythiswastakenupbyCavalieri,whose appointed in1712,nottojudgeimpartiallywhetherNewtonorLeibniz methods. HewasfollowedinrapidsuccessionbyEermat,Pascal,and of Mathematicsintheseventeenthcentury),thereoughttobeaddedan was thefirstinventoroffluxionalcalculus,buttostateNewton’s undergone aremarkablechangesincetheCommerciumEpistolicumfirst mentioned. are foundinhispaper“Heanalysiperequationes,etc.,”already inverse operations.ThesewerethegreatdiscoveriesofNewton,and Introduction showingthegradualgrowthofintegralanddifferential realised thatthedrawingoftangentsandquadraturecurvesare was thefirsttodeterminemaximaandminimadrawtangents, able tosolvevariousproblemsofquadratureandcubature.Inthefirst calculus. TheintegralcalculuscanreallybetracedbacktotheGreeks, precursors Ihavementioned,orwhetherhegottheideafromNewton these problemswerealsostudiedbyHudde,Sluse,andBarrow.But who bythe“methodofexhaustion”EudoxusandArchimedeswere case. Tomakethisbookintelligibletothemajorityofreaders the CommerciumEpistolicumwithoutacommentary.Thisisnot than twohundredyears.Butthediscussionofitcannotbeshirkedby in somewayorother,hasbeendebatedfromtimetoduringmore the differentialcalculusbybuildingonfoundationslaid none oftheseprecursorsproducedgeneralrules,andthemhad Wallis. Withregardtodifferentiationthecaseisdifferent;Fermat appeared. out thattheallegedproofsofsupposedplagiarismLeibnizhave from anexaminationofthepapersLeibniz in theLibraryatHanover an editorofNewton’sworks,asitwouldbemostimpropertore-issue place togiveanaccountofthecontroversy,butIshouldlikepoint alluding tothemethod.*Andanyonewho readstheletterin letter, omittingtheexampleofdrawingatangent toacurve,andmerely among thepapersofCollinsbelongingtoBoyalSocietyabundle Paris tobecommunicatedLeibniz.Furthermore,thattherewas of Newton’slettertoCollins1672December10hadbeensent continental historianofMathematics—Cantor, Eneström,Zeuthen. Newton, byAugustusdeMorgan, editedbyP.Jourdain(ChicagoandLondon,1914, Newton, markedastobesentLeibnizbyOldenburg. Nowitappears Method beforehisletterof1677June21,whichwasayearaftercopy Macclesfield Correspondence(2,338)and compares itwithSluse’s Open CourtPublishingCompany). DeMorgan’spaperwasunknowntoevery containing extractsfrom,Gregory’sletters, and alsotheletterfrom Discoveries relativetotheControversyonInvention ofFluxions,”inthe (the resultsofwhichwerefirstpublishedin 1849) thatinthemas Companion totheAlmanacfor1852,reprintedinEssays ontheLifeandWorleof Coll^ns draft(attheBoyalSociety)thereisonly anabstractofNewton’s * Edleston,xlvii.CompareDeMorgan’spaper‘AShort AccountofsomeRecent The questionwhetherLeibniz,independentlyofNewton,discovered In thatworkitisstatedLeibnizdidnotpossessanyDifferential © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System The President'sAddress. LXXXIV. 4, 192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D Feb. 1924. at Hanover.”* second visittoEnglandin1676October,hadobtainedaccesshis anything whichhemightnotjustaswellhavelearnedfromSluse’s if Leibnizhadgotthewholeletter,itwouldnothavetaughthim assisted indiscoveringtheDifferencialCalculus.ThistractofNewton’s paper inthePhil.Trans.,No.90(1672),willacknowledge,thateven access toNewton’spapernearlyayearlater. the chargeagainstLeibnizisadifferentone.“Itclearfromthese asserted orevenimpliedintheCommerciumthatthistractofNewton’s paper. cannot havehelpedhimmuchinthediscoveryofittoobtained that Leibnizhadgotholdofthepaper“DeAnalysi”in1676October. ought tobeexaminedverythoroughlyfindwhyNewtonthought quite possiblethatLeibnizmadecopyafter1675November,at of LeibniztotheInvention oftheDifferentialCalculus,”Cambridge,i860,p.65. tion whichyoucangivetoanastronomer?—Newton’s. AsaSocietywe country. WhoseportraithangsoveryourPresident’s chair?—Newton’s. gives toeachofKepler’swritings.Aneventual editorofNewton’s copious extractsfromthelettersinlengthy introductionswhichhe of lettersrathertedious.ThisisavoidediftheplanadoptedbyFrisch are included,whichsometimesmakesthereadingofabulkycollection such lettersinchronologicalorderwithoutomittinganyofthem.This attention toamostdeplorablegapinthescientific literatureofthis two methods. the fundamentalprinciplesofCalculus.ButPortsmouthpapers found amongthepapersofLeibnizpreservedinRoyalLibrary that NewtonwasrightinthinkingLeibnizhadbeenshown which wasinthehandsofCollins,andthathehadthusbeenmaterially MS. entitled‘Deanalysiperequationesnumeroterminoruminfinitas,’ Whose imageadornstheGoldMedal,greatest markofyourapprecia- If thedateof1675November11iscertain,whenLeibniz(mentioning no dateandNewton’spaperwasnotprintedtill1712,itis,ofcourse, is printedinfulltheCommerciumEpistolicum,andthereused in hisexcellenteditionofKepler’sworksbefollowed.Heonlysupplies plan hasthedrawback,thatmanyuninterestingdetailsandrepetitions which timethepapersatHanovershowthathewasinpossessionof had everbeenseenbyLeibniz.Therecannowbenodoubt,however, merely inordertoproveNewton’spriorityLeibniz.Itisnowhere Portsmouth papersthatNewtonbelievedLeibniz,duringhis him, therearetwowaysofmakingusethem.Mosteditorsprint this MS.,sinceacopyofpartit,inLeibniz’shand,hasbeen not thinkitinappropriate,thatIhavechosen thisoccasiontocall works willhavetoconsiderveryseriouslythe relativemeritsofthese Sluse’s name)workedoutproblemsbymeansofhisnewCalculus,it * Gerhardt,Mathem.-Schriften Leibnizens,1,7.Cf.H.Sloman,“TheClaim The existenceofthisMS.copyiscertainlystrange,butasitbears But ifweturntotheCatalogueofPortsmouthCollection(p.xvi), I feelsurethattheFellowsofRoyalAstronomical Societywill With regardtotheverynumerousletterswrittenbyNewtonor © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System The President'sAddress. 303 192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D neglect topublishapropereditionofhisworks.TothemIaddressan midst anumberofdistinguishedmembersNewton’soldUniversity, are, ofcourse,quiteunabletoundertakeanypecuniaryresponsibilityin do, thewantofrespecttomemoryIsaacNewtonimpliedin who doubtlessfeel,evenmorethanotherastronomersandmathematicians addition tothatconnectedwithourregularwork.Butwehavein means willbeforthcoming,iftheproperamountoftalentandenthusiasm 304 can besecured. earnest appealtoputanendthisstateofthings.Surelythepecuniary © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System The President'sAddress. LXXXIV. 4, 192 4MNRAS. .84. .298D Feb. 1924. for theensuingyear,whenfollowingFellowswereelected:— John Jackson,Esq.,M.A.,D.Sc. F. A.Lindemann,Esq.,M.A.,Ph.D.,F.R.S., ProfessorofExperi- J. W.L.Glaisher,Esq.,Sc.D.,F.R.S. Lieut.-Col. F.J.M.Stratton,D.S.O.,M.A. Harold Thomson,Esq., M.Sc. John H.Reynolds,Esq. John Evershed,Esq.,C.I.E.,F.R.S. Alfred Fowler,Esq.,F.RS.,YarrowResearchProfessorofthe J. L.E.Dreyer,Esq.,M.A.,Ph.D.,D.Sc. H. F.Hewall,Esq.,M.A.,D.Sc.,F.R.S.,Professor ofAstrophysics, E. A.Milne,Esq.,M.A. Harold Jeffreys,Esq.,M.A.,D.Sc. Rev. T.E.R.Phillips,M.A. E. B.Knobel.Esq. A. S.Eddington,Esq.,M.A.,M.Sc.,F.R.S.,PlumianProfessorof The MeetingthenproceededtotheelectionofOfficersandCouncil P. H.Hepburn,Esq.,LL.B. Sir FrankDyson,M.A.,LL.D.,F.R.S.,Astronomer Royal. A. E.Conrady,Esq.,ProfessorofOpticalDesign,ImperialCollege H. Turner,Esq.,D.Sc.,D.C.L.,F.R.S.,SavilianProfessorof A. C.D.Crommelin,Esq.,E.A.,D.Sc. C. R.Davidson,Esq. Cambridge. mental Philosophy,Oxford. Astronomy, Oxford. Royal Society,ImperialCollegeofScienceandTechnology, of ScienceandTechnology,SouthKensington. Astronomy, Cambridge. South Kensington. © Royal Astronomical Society•Provided bythe NASAAstrophysics Data System Election ofOfficersandCouncil. Election ofOfficersandCouncil. Foreign Secretary. Vice-Presidents. Secretaries. Treasurer.. President. Council. 305