Leyte Normal University

Paterno St., Downtown, Tacloban City, Leyte

S.Y. 2019 – 2020

A Critique Paper on the article entitled “Standing on the Shoulders of

Giants: The Story Behind Newton’s Famous Metaphor for How Knowledge
Progresses” by Maria Popova

Submitted by: Tatyana Veirnell D. Ayes

BSHM 2-4
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton
was accomplished in mathematics, astronomy, physics, and natural philosophy. His intellect
exceeded even the best thinkers. Yet these words from him mainly reveal his humility. Newton
was someone who was driven mostly by an insatiable curiosity—and he knew it. He mostly
wanted to know why things are the way they are. Here are two additional quotations from
Newton that illustrate this point:

“To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for
any one age.”
“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to
have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself
now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than
ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before
me.”
The supporting words above were also stated in Maria Popova’s article. Newton’s quotation
teaches us three important things: (a) that we should appreciate the contribution of others to our
own success and that none of us is self-made; (b) that knowledge is cumulative—including our
own and that knowledge builds upon itself, so the more we know, the more we can know; and (c)
that the only appropriate response to what we’ve accomplished is humble gratitude for what we
have achieved.
This metaphor recognizes the contributions of others to our own success. In the original context,
Newton was making reference to the contribution of other scientists, that it was their previous
discoveries that paved the way for his own, but the application extends beyond science. A self-
made person is merely an illusion. We all benefit from what others contribute and only arrogance
would argue otherwise. It also reflects the truth that all learning is cumulative and that all
learning is built upon what came before it. In fact, it’s been convincingly argued that there is no
true originality in the world, that everything, even the most creative, is but a variation on a
previous theme. Whether it is in music, art, science, philosophy, or religion—the developments
we see now came only because of the developments that came earlier. The great thinker Solomon
put it like this in the Book of Ecclesiastes: “There is nothing new under the sun.” We don’t need
to apologize for this. We only need to recognize it.
Such words are one of the most frequently used quotations in scientific enquiry, alluded to by
researchers of all backgrounds who wish to acknowledge their own limitations when faced with
the complexity of their subject. It is a quotation which varies enormously in its formulation.
Another version is "We see further when standing on the shoulders of giants," but the essential
metaphor remains the same. People who are proud of their contribution to science are
nonetheless well aware that they would have been unable to make that contribution if it were not
for those scientists who have preceded them. It is a fine sentiment, and knowing that it came
from Newton - a scientific giant, if ever there was one - it provides a model of humility which
scientists would do well to emulate especially in this age of the television scientific pundit
wherein scientific humility is often conspicuous by its absence unfortunately.