# Isaac Newton — Representative Men character guide

> Isaac Newton in Representative Men by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** Newton, Sir Isaac Newton

**First appearance:** 0000-i-uses-of-great-men

## Who they are

English physicist and mathematician, referenced as a symbol of scientific discovery.

## In the story

### [I: Uses of Great Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/representative_men_se/chapters/i-uses-of-great-men)

Listed as an example of a man connected with a district of nature, specifically fluxions.

### [Plato; or, the Philosopher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/representative_men_se/chapters/ii-plato-or-the-philospher)

Listed as a debtor to Plato, along with other major figures.

### [Swedenborg; or, the Mystic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/representative_men_se/chapters/iii-swedenborg-or-the-mystic)

Cited as a contemporary who published the Principia in the year of Swedenborg's birth, establishing universal gravity.

### [VII: Goethe; or, the Writer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/representative_men_se/chapters/vii-goethe-or-the-writer)

Mentioned in Goethe's historical notes and as part of the lineage of scientific thinkers from Kepler to Goethe.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/representative_men_se/characters/newton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/representative_men_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/representative_men_se/characters