On the Shoulders of Giants

Joe's quote does not come from Newton. Rather it is much older. It comes from an 11th century monk named John of Salisbury. There is some evidence that he may have gotten it from something older that is now lost, while he was studying with Abelard in France.

- question from CD

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."



Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

However, I suspect that the reason for your confusion is the phrase "on the shoulders of giants," which was borrowed from earlier sources. This phrase was actually quite commonly used by authors and thinkers of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Though Newton's reference is probably the best known today, 12th century theologian and author John of Salisbury was another well-known source of the phrase. I've come across many variations of his quote, but one of the more commonly cited versions is:

"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."

"We are like dwarfs standing [or sitting] upon the shoulders of giants, and so able to see more and see farther than the ancients."

"The younger the scholars, the more sharp-sighted."

Although Newton may have borrowed the phrase "on the shoulders of giants" from earlier writers, the specific quote referenced on our site is his and his alone. The phrase is indeed a commonly cited one, as the following examples illustrate.

"We are like dwarfs standing [or sitting] upon the shoulders of giants, and so able to see more and see farther than the ancients."

- Bernard of Chartres, circa 1130

"Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness on sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size."

- John of Salisbury, Metalogicon, 1159

"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself."

- Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621

"Dwarfs on the shoulders of giants see further than the giants themselves."

- Stella Didacus, Eximii verbi divini CONCIONATORIS ORDINNIS MINORUM Regularis Observantiae, 1622

"A dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees farther of the two."

- George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum, 1651

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

- Isaac Newton, letter to Robert Hooke, 1676

"Newton won the race in part because, as he put it, he had stood on the shoulders of giants and in part because he just happened to be the biggest giant of them all."

- Alan Cromer, Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science, 1993

"In the sciences, we are now uniquely privileged to sit side by side with the giants on whose shoulders we stand."

- Gerald Holton

"If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders."

- Hal Abelson

"I think, therefore I am."

- René Descartes, Le Discours de la Mèthode, 1637

"I am, therefore I think."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"I think that I think, therefore, I think that I am."

- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

"I think I am. Therefore, I am . . . I think."

- George Carlin

"I don't think, so, therefore I'm probably not."

- anonymous

"I think, therefore I am. But I'm micromanaged, therefore I am not."

- Scott Adams, Dilbert comic strip, 1997

Update!

A teacher named Carla recently pointed out what appears to be a grammatical error in Isaac Newton's quote. She suggested that we change the text from the following:

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

"If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."