Unlocking the secrets of the universe (Image: Geoffrey Robinson/Rex Features)
History boils down to biology, and geography can be unfair, says Ian Morris: but the advantages they confer may not last forever
Trinity College, Cambridge, 1669
ISAAC NEWTON rubbed his eyes. He was tired but excited after another long day polishing lenses in the Chinese Astrocalendrical Bureau, where he worked as a lab assistant. The bureau was abuzz about a new mathematical technique that its young director, Mei Wending, had just brought back from Beijing.
Using this new method, Mei claimed he could calculate the laws of motion of the…
