Newton’s Notes on Egypt’s Pyramids Sell for €378, 000

Handwritten notes by the English scientist Sir lsaac Newton were sold at a Sotheby’s London auction on 7 December, fetching €378,000. The three pages of notes, which date from the 1680s, show Newton     1     to work out the structure and exact measurements of ancient Egyptian pyramids.   The notes are burnt around the     2    , which is thought to be the result of Newton’s dog jumping up on the table and knocking over a candle.

Newton, who lived from 1642 to 1727, is most famous for discovering the laws of gravity. However, among his many other     3    , he wanted to work out the date and timings of the Apocalypse (末世). He thought that the key to this knowledge might be in the ancient pyramids at Giza, Egypt.

By studying the     4     of individual bricks, the length of tunnels and the height of chambers, Newton thought he would be able to work out the secrets of the pyramids and therefore unpick mysteries of Apocalypse, too. Newton also thought studying the pyramids could help him to work out the circumference (周长) of the Earth — a     5     piece in his work on gravity.

At the time, several people believed that the ancient Egyptians had access to important knowledge and secrets that were     6     when their civilisation ended. This belief was central to the study of alchemy (炼金术). Although Newton was very interested in alchemy, he kept this hidden because he thought it would     7     his career. He was known as an Enlightenment scientist.

However, Newton       8     showed more interest in alchemy than in science and maths. In 1936, a sale of Newton’s paperwork at Sotheby’s auction house revealed how far his research and interest in alchemy     9    . John Maynard Keynes, an economist, bought some of those papers. He said that Newton was “not the first of the age of     10    , he was the last of the magicians”. The notes that sold on 7 December are thought to be part of the same body of work.