Thread by @AdamRutherford

It is a very powerful phrase, but I did not create it. I borrowed and paraphrased it from @helenlewis whom I thought had coined it. But she denies coining it too.

@helenlewis It pops up in various forms, mostly in reference to feminism, and Quote Investigator gives citations back to '97. bit.ly/37GUjiW

@helenlewis I am happy to popularise it, but it is not my idea.
This btw reminds me of the roots of 'We see further by standing on the shoulders of giants' a key phrase in science, that we attribute to Newton.

@helenlewis Newton wrote this in a letter to Hooke in 1675.
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
bit.ly/3df0NXz

@helenlewis But Newton did not invent it either. He was paraphrasing the 12thC Neo-Platonist scholar Bernard of Chartres.
bit.ly/2BqdG3y

@helenlewis ...who was referencing the myth of the temporarily blinded giant hunter Orion who placed his servant Cedalion on his shoulders.

Some have argued that Newton's use was a snark at Hooke, who was short and slight having been afflicted in his youth with kyphosis.

However, I see no evidence for this. Though Hooke and Newton were enemies later, at this point in time I believe their relationship to be cordial. It's a nice story, and Newton was a bit of a jerk, but I don't think this can be substantiated.

Anyway. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun...'
Ecclesiastes 1:9

And I have been heavily influenced about all of this from the amazing work of @remixeverything. You would do well to spend an hour or two immersed in his work.

bit.ly/3bbqbMX

@remixeverything And while we see further by standing on the shoulders of giants, whether we know it or not, we also stand on the shoulders of bastards.

@remixeverything And today's news that UCL will be removing the names of Galton and Pearson from some of their buildings should be a moment for us to learn about their legacies both positive and pernicious.
bit.ly/2UWSnxu

@remixeverything Anyway, there you go, a Friday thread on evolution - the most powerful force in the universe.