The Newtonian System of Cambridge
Read More
Thomas Birch's Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain
A close associate of Newton, Clarke assisted Newton in his great dispute with the German philosopher Leibniz over natural religion. As a theologian, Clarke sought to apply Newtonian mathematical style reasoning to demonstrate the existence of God. Clarke observed the directing Providence in the ‘inexpressible nicety’ of balance between the annual motion of the planets and the force of their gravitation towards the sun. For Clarke, morality too accorded with the order of creation rather than the decree of God. Inevitably, Clarke’s rational approach to theology aroused opposition and even ridicule. The atheist Anthony Collins quipped that no one had doubted God’s existence until Clarke tried to prove it.
Author: Thomas Birch
Title: The heads of illustrious persons of Great Britain, engraven by Mr. Houbraken. With their lives and characters. (London, 1752)
Shelfmark: R.1.6(1)
![Jacques Rouhalt's Physica [Physics]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Exhibitions/David-Hughes-Exhibition/The-Newtonian-System-of-Cambridge-Gallery/i-FdPGGgH/0/7a6d6213/Ti/H-007-047-001-Ti.jpg)