The Shoulders of Giants

Most would believe Isaac Newton the first to refer to "standing on the shoulders of giants" in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke in 1676:

"What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

However, in a treatise on logic called Metalogicon, written in Latin in 1159 by John of Salisbury we find:

"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours."

The meaning behind the saying is the understanding gained by major thinkers who have gone before in order to make intellectual progress. Those of us in 1st and 2nd world countries need not look far to behold the legacy of our predecessors achievements and the advancements made through innovation.

To further the Dwarf/Giant symbiosis to modern civilization, we stand on giants grown to a height that would tower over past giants. Collections of literature and research the world over are available and accessible. Don't deceive yourself that the hard work is done. All one needs to know is where to look and there are words to answer questions previously unthought. If you can't see the world, it can be brought to you.

"The uncreative mind can spot the wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot the wrong questions" The question has never been: Do we have the money? The question has always been: Do we have the resources? ~ Jacque Fresco