In a letter written in 1704, the renowned English scientist Isaac Newton, the father of modern physics and astronomy, predicted that the world would come to an end in 2060.
Isaac Newton was an eminent mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time. His book, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, laid the groundwork for the laws of motion and universal gravitation, famously inspired by an apple falling from a tree.
As a rationalist who received royal exemption from adhering to the church’s doctrines, Newton nonetheless used a passage from the Bible as the basis for his prediction.
However, it appears that Newton had profound ties to religion, similar to those he had with science. Papers he left behind were discovered after many years of being lost, first found in a car trunk at the home of the Earl of Portsmouth in 1969, revealing that Newton predicted the Apocalypse would occur 1,260 years after the founding of the Roman Empire.
The renowned scientist Isaac Newton predicted the world’s end? (Photo: Express).
In a letter written in 1704, which was presented at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2007, Isaac Newton used the Bible to calculate the date of the world’s end. The notes revealed a spiritual depth of a man often considered entirely rational. At that time, he confidently declared in papers that the Bible proved the world would end in 2060, adding: “It may end later, but I see no reason for it to end sooner.”
“I mention this not to assert the timing of the apocalypse, but to prevent the fanciful speculations of those who frequently predict the end of the world without principle,” Newton added. “They take sacred prophecies at the risk of their own credibility should reality prove otherwise.”
According to him, the final days would witness: “the destruction of wicked nations, the end of suffering and all troubles, the Jewish people returning after their long captivity and establishing a thriving, immortal kingdom.”
Yemima Ben-Menahem, one of the curators of the Isaac Newton exhibition, stated in 2007: “These documents show a successful scientist under religious devotion, driven by a desire to see God’s actions in the world.”
The letter believed to be left by Isaac Newton. (Photo: Express).
The Hebrew University noted that this was the first time the letter had been publicly disclosed since 1969.
Newton’s work at Cambridge University in the late 17th century laid the foundation for modern science, until the discovery of relativity and quantum mechanics in the late 20th century.
However, the famous physicist was also interested in the superstitions of his time, issues that have long been divorced from modern science. Newton spent four years in the 1670s preparing to practice alchemy—the idea that one could transform common metals into gold.
