Diamond (dog)

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Diamond was, according to legend, Sir Isaac Newton's favorite dog, which, by upsetting a candle, set fire to manuscripts containing his notes on experiments conducted over the course of twenty years. According to one account, Newton is said to have exclaimed: "O Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done."[1] The story is largely apocryphal: according to another account, Newton simply left a window open when he went to church, and the candle was knocked over by a gust of wind.[2] In fact, some historians claim that Newton never owned pets.[1]

Nevertheless, Diamond is the subject of several anecdotes concerning Newton. In another tale, Newton is said to have claimed that the dog discovered two theorems in a single morning. He added, however, that "one had a mistake and the other had a pathological exception."[3]

See also List of historical dogs.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Alfred Rupert Hall, Isaac Newton: Eighteenth Century Perspectives, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 175. ISBN 0198503644.
  2. ^ Jason Socrates Bardi, The Calculus Wars: Newton, Leibniz, and the Greatest Mathematical Clash of All Times. Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006, p. 159. ISBN 1560257067.
  3. ^ "Historical Canines," Shepherd Software. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
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