Take It From Newton

“At the Stourbridge Fair in 1663, at age twenty, he [Isaac Newton] purchased a book on astrology, ‘out of curiosity to see what there was in it.’ He read it until he came to an illustration which he could not understand, because he was ignorant of trigonometry. So he purchased a book on trigonometry but soon found himself unable to follow the geometrical arguments. So he found a copy of Euclid’s Elements of Geometry, and began to read. Two years later he invented the differential calculus. … When asked how he accomplished his astonishing discoveries, Newton replied unhelpfully, ‘By thinking upon them.’”

-From Cosmos by Carl Sagan

So guys, when you wanna learn something, do not be disheartened when you encounter something that you don’t understand. Take extra steps to fully understand the craft. Who knows, just like Newton, you might just find the discovery of the century in the process.




(This should be a note to myself.)