Newton. Physicist. Sociologist?
We all know the story by now. Newton was happily sitting under a tree, minding his own business, when he was abruptly disturbed by a falling apple. The truth of this story could be called into question, but you can't deny that his laws of motion change the fundamental shape of physics (ok boys, back me up here).
He was a physicist, right? Let's dissect. He creates these "laws." They are supposed to apply to "bodies." Interesting.
First Law: The law of intertia. Simply, a body will continue doing what it is doing until another force acts on it. Sounds like sociology to me. You'll keep ignoring me until I pinch you, then you'll pinch me back. Strike one.
Second law: The law of dynamics. Simply, the greater the force you apply to a body, the faster it will accelerate in that direction. Again, sociology. The more money you offer me to do something for you, the more quickly I'm going to get it done. Strike two.
Third law: Law of recipricity. Simply, you do something to disturb a body, it's going to do something equally disturbing back. This one is the killer. Um, remember the Cold War and the Nuclear Missile Crisis?
Sorry physicists, I think he was talking about people all along. Sociologist he was. I'm adding him to the canon with Weber, Marx, and Durkheim. Welcome, Newton.
Flown by mariposa at 10:07 AM on March 31, 2005
In that case, we should add Weber, Marx, and Durkheim to the list of Physicists. Their thoughts were so elevated they had to talking about energy.
