Modern science emerged in the 17th century and probably the most important figure in that emergence was Isaac Newton. The publication of the definitive critical edition of his Scientific Correspondence, began in 1959 and took nearly twenty years to complete. This monumental work, of lasting importance to historians and philosophers of science, and of the Enlightenment in general, is itself widely recognised as a significant contribution to scholarship.
It is now available for the first time in an online edition. Scholars will be able to conduct searches across the collection with results retrieved at the individual letter level. As well as presenting the transcriptions of the original manuscript material (and translations of those not written in English), it includes the invaluable contextual notes provided by the editors to elucidate the content and supply relevant biographical and historical context.
Additionally, hyperlinks have been added to the letters that will take the user directly to any digital facsimile of the item available in the Cambridge Digital Library or any transcription included in the Newton Project. Links are also provided to the Royal Society’s catalogue for all items entered there. Where the editorial apparatus to one letter references another letter in the collection, a link to the referenced letter has been created to enable the user to hyperlink immediately to it.