Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review: A High-Spirited Homecoming That Recharges The Franchise’s Proton Pack
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| https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review |
Gil Kenan’s sequel further bridges the gap between generations of Ghostbusters fans.
One of the biggest debates surrounding the Ghostbusters franchise is whether or not it was built for such purposes in the first place. Some are of the mind that the 1984 classic was never truly “meant” to be a franchise, and even those who think the opposite would argue that the direction 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife went in was not the correct way to fulfill that promise.
From where I’m sitting, I’ve never seen a movie in this franchise that I didn’t like, and that hasn’t changed after seeing Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. With the world of paranormal extermination coming back home to New York City, the Spengler family and friends embark on a new journey to save our world from realms beyond.
This time, a second ice age and a spirit that can kill merely on fear alone are in the mix, and as is readily apparent in the marketing, it’s going to take both Busters old and new to save the day.
Writer/director Gil Kenan continues the franchise that he and co-writer/director Jason Reitman successfully revitalized with Ghostbusters: Afterlife; and he hasn’t missed a step. If anything, Frozen Empire might be the movie that OG fans had wished was the true beginning of this modern phase. Exhibiting a tone and setting being closer to the late Ivan Reitman’s classic franchise starter, it isn’t merely a nostalgic throwback, it’s a rekindling of a legend.
We continue to follow Phoebe (McKenna Grace), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), and Callie Spangler (Carrie Coon), as well as her serious boyfriend Gary (Paul Rudd) and their friends Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) and Podcast (Logan Kim) in their adventures of ghostbusting. Having relocated to the classic firehouse base in New York, the family business is up and running…and being threatened once again by Walter Peck (Wiliam Atherton).
In that synopsis alone, you can see how Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a proper crossroads between the classic films and the next generation’s adventures. While Afterlife before it employed the surviving legacy cast (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts) as cameos, this sequel uses the gang in a more substantial context. And thankfully, it’s not a compartmentalized affair, allowing the first class of Ghostbuster to mix it up with the young crew.
Through this practice the Ghostbusters series has now become a multigenerational affair, and not in a way that’s dependent on awkward humor or fish out of water gags. At the heart of this story is an effective family drama involving Phoebe growing up with ambitions of being a Ghostbuster, but straining against both the law and her mother’s want to keep her safe. It’s a thread that could have been explored a little deeper, but considering it doesn’t slip into the usual family melodrama you might expect, it still plays like a charm in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Now here’s where the original fans are probably going to give Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire the most points for improvement: the humor. I’ll admit, while I did really like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, that is the more family friendly blockbuster of the two legacy-quels we have so far. That’s not to say that Frozen Empire is entirely devoted to the Peter Venkman-style raunch of the classics; but there’s definitely some more adult one-liners and references that are slyly included to entertain parents.
Off the top of my head, I’m not sure if anyone has really singled out just how fantastic Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd’s chemistry happens to be on screen. But it’ll surely be highlighted after Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, as they’re two of the most consistent laugh drivers in this continuation. Rudd in particular seems to have fun as the goofster, with Coon playing it perfectly straight against him for the most part. Though The Gilded Age star does get her moments to get a bit goofy herself, which makes for even more delightful moments.
Adding comedians like James Acaster, Patton Oswalt, and Kumail Nanjiani to the cast also helps bolster Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s ranks. Each of them support the main team in their own ways, with unique styles of humor adding to the stew that is this new picture’s landscape of laughter. While the emotion that carried Afterlife is still somewhat present in Frozen Empire, this sequel is definitely more of the blockbuster comedy that 1984’s Ghostbusters happened to be.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a confident homecoming that continues to progress into the legacy franchise’s modern era with a knowing stride. Dedicated to Ivan Reitman’s memory, due to his passing between films, this second outing brings this modern contingent closer to the spirit of the original he helped shepherd into history forty years ago.
While there’s definitely more of a family friendly vibe, Frozen Empire experiments more with balancing the tone alongside some more mature jokes, and feels like a progression rather than merely playing it safe. Though the overall story could use a little more effort in balancing the emotional with the fantastical, the vibes are definitely there.
That, in particular, is important, because you can throw all of the easter eggs or legacy cast members into a legacy-quel such as this, and it would ultimately fall flat if it doesn’t feel like a Ghostbusters movie. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire captures that spirit in an energetic and entertaining way that makes it the sequel that’s come the closest to recapturing the total magic of its origins.
Seeing the Ghostbusters saga return to theaters does indeed make me feel good, especially if it continues to develop in the ways that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has. It feels like this variant of the series is growing with its audience, while also keeping the touches that made that original unexpected blockbuster so charming. If Sony’s ready to greenlight another adventure, I’m ready to believe I’ll be there on opening night.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Friday, April 26, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Praising the Sony Vaio PCG-3E2L again
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| A still from Vagrant Story (2000), directed by Yasumi Matsuno |
I didn't really want to make a post so soon after my last post, but there are a few things that I should write about. First of all, since I make several donations on Patreon every month, it's worth informing the people that receive money from me that a problem has come up. I recently had to change my credit card. Because of this, I had to update my credit card information at the end of the month when it comes to my subscriptions and donations. The only website where I haven't been able to update my credit card information is Patreon. I've tried doing this several times, but every time I get a message stating that my credit card information can't be updated at this time. I've even tried to use a few other methods of payment, but nothing works. Therefore, the people that receive money from me on Patreon didn't get a payment this month. I haven't been able to find a solution to this problem. What's left for me to do, I suppose, is to create a new account on Patreon in order to resume donations. Hopefully, this will work, though I must say that I'm not in a hurry to do this because setting up a new account can be time-consuming. I can add that I haven't been interested in the work of a few of the people that still receive donations from me for quite some time. If I were a normal (neurotypical) person, I would have ceased donating money to these people a long time ago. But, since I'm autistic, I continue making donations because, for example, I think that they did some good work in the past. It turns out that the attitude of autistic people toward money and other things is different from the attitude of normal people. Another thing that's worth mentioning is that I recently found out about a new drug that's very helpful when it comes to my health problems. I already mentioned in one of my posts that I consume aspirin when I need to and that I consume probiotics in order to help me with the two conditions that I have, one of which is autism. The probiotics that I take that help me when it comes to my autism problems provide me with a little extra energy and they help me to think more about the important things in life. Since I'm autistic, it's easy for me to get distracted and to stop thinking about the important things in life, such as trying to make a living or spending my money on necessities like food and clothes. But the probiotics that I consume also have a somewhat unpleasant effect on me because they can make me feel anxious and gloomy since they improve the functioning of my brain and force me to think about my autistic behavior and the problems that autism creates for me in public. By the way, probiotics have to be consumed when you're eating a meal or even a little before you're eating a meal in order for them to be most effective. What I really like about probiotics is that they provide me with at least a little of the energy that I need because I'm almost always drained of energy because of my two health problems. The fact that I'm autistic drains me of energy because I have to interact with people, which is something that doesn't come naturally for an autistic person. The acting that I'm forced to do when I'm in public is very energy draining. Some autistics call the act of trying to fit in and act normally in this neurotypical society that we live in masking, but I prefer the word acting. Unless an autistic person finds a niche in life in which he or she can feel comfortable most of the time (which isn't easy to do), life remains an almost everyday struggle, and this is definitely still the case for me. The other health problem that I have also drains me of energy if I'm not very careful, in addition to causing some other serious negative effects. Therefore, I'm glad that I discovered that aspirin and probiotics are beneficial for me. The new drug that I recently found out about is called serrapeptase. Serratiopeptidase is a proteolytic enzyme (protease) produced by enterobacterium Serratia sp. E-15. This microorganism was originally isolated in Japan in the late-1960s from silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) intestine. Soon after, it became a bestselling drug in that country, later finding its way onto drugstore shelves in Europe and North America as a dietary supplement. Serrapeptase capsules are even more beneficial for me than probiotics because they provide me with considerably more energy and they help me to feel better. Thanks to these capsules, I don't feel burned out, as I usually am. Therefore, I can think better, I can be more attentive, I can act better, and I can fit in public better. Serrapeptase capsules, while providing me with energy, don't make me feel anxious and gloomy. Because of this additional energy, I can feel more confident. Serrapeptase capsules aren't made specifically for autistics. Therefore, I assume that they have beneficial effects for normal people too. So, I've learned a lot about autism since August of 2023. As it turns out, I don't really need a so-called stim toy. What I really need is something that provides me with energy. Aspirin, probiotics, and serrapeptase are the things that help me to feel better. I mean, I just wish that I had as much energy as Rich Evans. Sure, that's not really possible because Rich is a god, one of the seven sons of Odin. Rich, whose real name is Bragi, lives on this mortal realm of ours disguised as a typical clueless American, who spends his time talking about junk cinema with two senior citizens and sellouts called Mike and Jay. Of course, Rich isn't perfect. I think that he could have picked a better American name when he settled on Midgard. I would have preferred Chuck Lafarge or Gus Jenkins. And Rich, being the god of bad movies, doesn't really do much nowadays, but that's only because he's trying to avoid Ragnarok. Well, let's just hope that Rich pays his taxes, though, with all of his great power, he can easily avoid doing this. Still, Rich did take the time to bring sexy back several years ago, after Justin Timberlake famously brought sexy back in 2006.
Since a follower of mine recently asked me what I think of Bloodborne (2015), and since other followers have asked me what I think about some video games that got released in the last several years, I think that I will reply to these and other questions. First of all, I have to say that I still haven't played Bloodborne, though it's one of the games that I think that I should play as soon as possible. But, somehow, I keep on picking other games to play. Perhaps this is because I still haven't grown attached to my PlayStation 4, which I bought in 2022. In the nearly two years that have passed since I bought my PS4, I've hardly used it to do anything. The only game that I've managed to finish playing so far on my PS4 is God Of War (2018). Bloodborne is one of a few PS4 games that I've already bought, but I still haven't played it. God Of War was definitely a pleasure to play. It's acknowledged by many people as one of the greatest video games ever made. Its world design and art direction are impressive. There are many places in this game that feature beautiful surroundings, where it's pleasing to simply stand and look at the scenery, like plants or a flowing creek. Well, perhaps the big reason why I still haven't played Bloodborne is because I know that, like Dark Souls (2011), it won't be an easy game to finish. It will take plenty of time and effort to finish playing Bloodborne. Sure, the time spent on playing Bloodborne will be enjoyable, though sometimes difficult, but I just don't want to be playing a challenging game at this time, when I'm trying to make changes to my life. Since my affinity is strongest for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable, I keep on playing games that got made for these consoles the most. The PSP, in particular, is an excellent console for playing games on the go. I especially like the PSP Go (N1000). Video games look splendid on its small LCD screen. I even use it to watch films from time to time because you can store video files, music files, and images on it. The program that I use to easily convert files so that they can be played on my devices is called Wondershare UniConverter. The PSP Go is perhaps the easiest console to take with you because of its small size, its great design, and its many features. It's even smaller than my mobile phone. Sure, I adore the PSP-1000 and the PSP-3000 too, but the PSP Go is simply handheld perfection. The game that I've been playing the most on my PSP Go recently is Final Fantasy Tactics: The War Of The Lions (2007), and this is my fourth time playing this game. It's actually the first PlayStation game that I ever got to play and finish, and I think that it's also the game that I've played the most. When I was playing it for the first time, I wasn't using a guide, and I had no idea what this game had in store. Therefore, the fight against Cuchulainn surprised me because I didn't expect for such a non-human enemy to appear. You can't even find out how many hit points he has when you're fighting against him. It's still perhaps the most memorable boss fight that I've ever completed in a video game. Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) is known for being one of the greatest video games ever made, and playing it on a PSP console is my favorite way of playing it. Since I'm a fan of Yasumi Matsuno's work, another game that I decided to play recently is Vagrant Story (2000). Like all of the other games that are stored on my PS3, I bought it before the PlayStation Store got shut down. This is my first time playing Vagrant Story, and I've been using an internet text guide for help. It's the best game that I've played since I finished playing Okami (2006) at the end of May of 2023. Richard Stanton's 'A Brief History of Video Games: From Atari to Virtual Reality' (2015) was an enjoyable read for me recently. When it comes to Okami, he had the following to say. "The greatest aesthetic achievement in this period is Clover Studios' Okami for PS2, directed by Hideki Kamiya. Drawing on a combination of the ancient religion of Shinto and traditional Japanese watercolour art, Okami's cel-shaded visuals are filtered through a parchment effect to create the overall impression of a moving painting. Okami is a long and involved journey, and what makes it so remarkable is that the visual invention never lets up, the beautifully realized aesthetic the starting point for endless flourishes rather than a self-satisfied whole." The other PS2 games that Stanton considers to be must-plays are Ico, Shadow Of The Colossus, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry 3, God Of War, God Of War II, God Hand, Resident Evil 4, Manhunt, Bully, Second Sight, TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Although Vagrant Story is challenging, mainly because its combat isn't easy to master, it's already clear to me that it's a great game, even though I've finished playing only about half of it so far. Well, needless to say, Vagrant Story looks very good on a PSP, just like any other PS1 game. As much as I like the fact that PS1 games can now be played on a well-made and well-designed handheld console, I still can't wait for the day when PS2 games, and especially PS3 games, can be played on a well-made and well-designed handheld console. At this time, there isn't even a good PS3 emulator in existence for a PC. Considering the rate at which electronics have been developing in the last decade or so, it seems that it will be a long time before PS3 games will become playable on a handheld. The PS3 is my favorite home video game console. I very much like the look of the original PS3 console, which was released all the way back in 2006. I even ordered one from Japan, even though I already had a PlayStation 3 Super Slim model. The PS3 is almost two decades old, but it can still be used for things like using YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and the internet. I don't even need a Blu-ray Disc player because I have two PS3 consoles and a PS4 console. I have an excellent PS3 remote control that I bought years ago. It can even be used to control a TV and an amplifier. I'm not in the habit of playing Blu-ray discs because I watch films and videos on my computer or on my tablet, but I recently decided to watch some films on Blu-ray and on a big screen because I finally set up the big flat screen Sony TV that was given to me by my so-called father (because he didn't need it anymore). I already had a big flat screen TV made by Toshiba, but it's slightly smaller and thicker than the Sony TV, and I hardly ever used it because I'm not in the habit of watching anything on a big screen at home. The Toshiba TV was given to me by my sister, but it's not like I wanted or needed the two flat screen television sets that I have now. Still, after some time, I found a use for both of them. I must say that I've been enjoying playing Blu-ray discs. I've been watching films on Blu-ray by using my PS3, and it has been a pleasure to watch films in high-definition and on a big screen for a change. Therefore, the PS3 can do a lot more than play PS3 games. It's even a pleasure to play music and compact discs on a PS3 because it plays some amazing background videos when it plays music. Since I've been slowly collecting all of the albums from Time Magazine's list of the All-TIME 100 Albums on CD for a long time already, I already have a decent collection of great albums to play. Needless to say, a PS3 has several USB slots, but it also has slots for MemoryStick PRO Duo, SD cards, and Microdrive. The Original PlayStation 3 model is capable of playing PS1 games and PS2 games, but my collection of PS1 discs is laughably small. I do have a fine collection of PS2 discs, however. Even so, I don't really need to use my PS3 to play PS2 games. I own a Slim PlayStation 2, which can be used to play PS1 discs, PS2 discs, and DVDs. I even own a PS2 remote control for playing DVD and CD-ROM on my PlayStation 2. Of course, my affection isn't restricted only to the amazing PS3. I like many of the other devices that Sony made in the 2000s too. I already made a post in which I explained how I managed to fix my Sony Vaio PCG-3E2L laptop, which was given to me by my sister. I had been using this laptop as my secondary laptop, and sometimes as my primary laptop, since the beginning of 2022, which was the time when I finally managed to fix it. But, a while ago, it stopped working again because its small CMOS BIOS battery needs to be replaced. I then ordered a new BIOS battery on Amazon. Before I discovered that what needed replacing is the BIOS battery, I ordered another used white PCG-3E2L on eBay. This laptop and the shipping cost me $69. This laptop used to belong to someone from Burnaby, British Columbia, and it arrived at the beginning of March to my home. Needless to say, since it's the same model as my first Vaio laptop, it looks beautiful. It's actually in better shape than my first Vaio laptop. The white plastic case on my first Vaio laptop has become a little darker and a little yellow-ish, after years of use by my sister and then by her boyfriend from Slovakia. My sister isn't known for taking good care of her electronic devices. She doesn't have autism. But, since I have autism, I take good care of my stuff. The white plastic case of the Vaio laptop that I bought on eBay is still in nearly pristine condition. This laptop came without a hard drive, and, therefore, I took out the hard drive out of my first Vaio laptop and placed it in this laptop in order to use it. Doing this was a piece of cake and the laptop easily began to work. The only noticeable difference between the two Vaio laptops is that the one that I bought on eBay doesn't have a Blu-ray drive. It has a DVD drive. So, what do I do with my Vaio laptop? Although I have newer laptops in my possession, both of which are of the same model (Samsung Notebook 7 Spin), the Vaio laptop is my favorite laptop, even though it's 10 years older than the Samsung laptops. The PCG-3E2L may be kind of old, but it can do almost anything that a new laptop can do. Not only do I use it as an additional storage device for my files, I also use it to play DVD and Blu-ray discs.
Monday, April 22, 2024
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Deforestation in Russia: Depleting the Lungs of the World
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| https://earth.org/deforestation-in-russia/ |
Russia contains the largest area of natural forests in the world, covering 49% of Russia’s landmass and 815 million hectares, 23% of the planet’s total forest area. Yet, much of the country’s forests are under the threats of rapid deforestation. From 2001 to 2019, Russia lost 64 million hectares of relative tree cover, equivalent to an 8.4% decrease since 2000 and 17% of the global total. In 2018 alone, Russia lost 5.6 million hectares of tree cover followed by Brazil with nearly 3 million. What obstacles does Russia face in preventing deforestation?
Russia’s forests stretch from the Baltic Sea to the Sea of Japan, encompassing the last wild forests of Europe and a substantial portion of the vast wilderness of Siberia. With their ability to soak up carbon dioxide and expel oxygen, the world’s forests are often referred to as the “planet’s lungs.”
Poor Forest Management
The forests of Russia are owned by the state and are used for commercial reasons by the private sector. Forests can only be licensed as concessions to enterprises for one to 49 years, but the Office of the President of the Russian Federation reported an approximate 66% increase in illegal logging from 2008 to 2013 in the Russian Federation.
Action to combat illegal deforestation is taken by the Federal Forestry Agency of Russia, which is responsible for forest policy, regulation of forests as well as enacting new laws. The 2013 Russian Roundwood Act requires the timber process to have documentation for Roundwood transportation, logs of valuable hardwoods and Roundwood sales to be declared in an open-source database alongside the implementation of penalties for non-compliance with the law concerning the Roundwood transaction declaration.
Additionally, an export tax in 2008 aimed to restrict log exports, reduce the loss of forest resources and increase domestic processing, jobs, and revenue for the domestic forestry industry.
Despite this, there are millions of hectares where it is unclear whether they are agricultural or forest areas, making it difficult to understand where illegal logging takes place; the government and administrative bodies often lack the funds to get clear indications of this.
Most illegal logging occurs through permits being issued illegally. The UN has stated that 14.2% of timber firms experienced at least one bribe payment request in 2012 with an overall lack of transparency during concession licensing processes with unfair competition and licences issued based on auctions to the highest bidder or given to individuals with connections to the issuing authorities.
In general, with little oversight by the government and high levels of corruption, many illegal timber activities are left unchallenged resulting in deforestation in Russia occurring unabated.
China’s Wood Demand
China is the world’s largest importer of logs and lumber in the world, becoming a global wood product remanufacturing and redistribution centre. 48.3% of these lumber imports to China are supplied by Russia.
By Russia feeding China’s colossal appetite for wood, China has brought jobs and cash to regions of Russia. Yet China has sharply restricted domestic logging to preserve its own forests, as well as Russian timber facilities to only be staffed by Chinese labour.
Ms Avdoshkevich, the Kansk City Council member said that the Chinese timber barons based in China simply ship as much wood as they can, as quickly as possible, to China, without investment in manufacturing in Russia and without regard to environmental damage.
It is estimated that around 20% of the Russian wood exported to China is felled illegally, helping Russia to become a global leader in forest depletion.
Furthermore, corruption is allegedly widespread in the Russian timber industry. Nikolay Shmatkov from the WWF believes that the law enforcement officials are stretched to their limits and that they stand by without taking action with Russian forestry workers who sell the timber without necessary permissions to China.
Although China’s timber rush has temporarily stimulated Russia’s local economies, it has also stoked localised Russian public anger against China unwilling to let Russia truly benefit from its timber investments while destroying its forests.
Raging Wildfires
Since the start of 2020, it’s estimated by Greenpeace International that fires have burnt through 20 million hectares of the Russian landscape, an area bigger than Greece, and about 10.9 million hectares of forest.
The Forestry Agency says the authorities will not extinguish 91% of the fires because they are located in “control zones.” Forests fall into control zones when the fires have no effect on local populations and when the cost of extinguishing them is greater than the residual damage of the fires.
“The role of fires in climate change is underestimated. Most of the fires are man-made,” said Grigory Kuksin, head of the fire protection department at Greenpeace Russia.
While the Russian government has previously declared states of emergency and dispatched the military to help firefighting efforts, local authorities have dismissed the wildfires as a natural occurrence, saying that putting out wildfires is not economically viable.
Environmental Damage in Russia Beyond Deforestation
In addition to the destruction of carbon-absorbing forests across Russia, the carbon dioxide, smoke and soot released have increased temperatures, with the winter of 2019 being the warmest winter in 130 years according to the Russian Hydrometeorological Research Center. It is these conditions that have invigorated heat and dry tundra conditions triggering forest fires along the Arctic Circle.
“Now we are seeing these fires within 15 kilometres of the Arctic Ocean,” according to Greg Henry, a climatologist and tundra researcher at the University of British Columbia. “Usually there’s not much fuel to burn there, because it’s kept cold by the ocean so you don’t get ignition of fires that far north.”
In turn, by burning so close to the Arctic, the fires are contributing to the thawing of Arctic permafrost which, in some cases, can lead to sudden ground collapse. The Western Russian Arctic is experiencing some of the highest rates of permafrost degradation globally with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecasting that by 2050, near-surface permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere may shrink by 15 to 30%.
“When surface soil rich in organic matter burns, it places the permafrost at risk which serves as an insulator against warm summer temperatures,” explains Sue Natali, Arctic programme director at Woods Hole Research Centre.
Permafrost degradation risks the collapsing of infrastructure as well as the release of carbon feedback.
Another implication of forest fires in the Arctic Circle is the burning of peatlands, carbon-rich soils that accumulate as waterlogged plants slowly decay, sometimes over thousands of years. These are the most carbon-dense ecosystems on Earth; a typical northern peatland packs in roughly ten times as much carbon as a boreal forest and nearly half the world’s peatland-stored carbon lies between 60 and 70 degrees north, along the Arctic Circle.
As a result of Arctic wildfires, northern peatlands could eventually shift from being a sink for carbon to a source, further dramatically accelerating climate change.
Russia ’s lacklustre response to tackle deforestation is in line with the country’s low commitment to addressing climate change, relying heavily on the oil and gas industry as well as having a poor record of enforcing green initiatives that could have greater negative global climate effects simply from not addressing deforestation and for short-term economic gains.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Norovirus Is More Common in the Winter—Here Are the Signs of This Stomach Bug
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| https://www.health.com/norovirus-symptoms-8410678 |
Norovirus is a highly contagious viral infection that causes your intestines to become inflamed. As a result of the inflammation, you'll likely experience symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Generally, these symptoms develop about 12 hours to two days after exposure to the virus. In most cases, symptoms go away on their own within three days as your body fights off the infection.
Keep in mind: while this condition is sometimes referred to as a stomach bug or the stomach flu, norovirus is not the same as influenza (flu) virus. But, norovirus is very common. In fact, in the U.S., researchers estimate that the virus causes about 20 million cases of diarrhea and vomiting each year. That said, it's important to understand the symptoms and know when to see medical attention.
Common Symptoms
Norovirus is a common cause of gastroenteritis—which is a term to describe any type of inflammation in the stomach and intestines. As such, it's common to experience symptoms that mainly affect your digestive tract—a tube that connects your mouth to your anus and includes organs like your esophagus, stomach, and intestines.
It's worth noting that some people who contract norovirus don't experience any symptoms at all. But, they can still spread the infection to other people. Because the virus is so contagious, you can spread norovirus even before symptoms start and two days after your symptoms go away.
Diarrhea
The most common symptom of norovirus is diarrhea. Researchers have found that diarrhea occurs in over 87% of all norovirus cases. Diarrhea causes loose, watery stools (poop). You may also feel a need to use the bathroom more often. Generally, this symptom will resolve on its own within three days. But it may take longer for people over 65 and toddlers or infants.
Nausea and Vomiting
When you become exposed to norovirus, you can expect several bouts of nausea and vomiting. This means you feel sick to your stomach and may have to throw up. People with this infection tend to experience these symptoms multiple times a day, usually for one to three days. In one study, researchers found about 25.5% of those exposed to norovirus experience these symptoms. Children, those older than 65, or people with autoimmune conditions may experience symptoms longer.
Stomach Pain
Another common sign of norovirus infection is stomach pain. This symptom usually happens when the lining of your stomach becomes inflamed. Your stomach pain may feel like severe or sharp cramping.
Less Common Symptoms
Alongside the digestive symptoms, norovirus can also cause other, less common issues in your body. These symptoms include a fever with a temperature over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, chills, headache, muscle aches, and joint pain. Some people might experience leukocytosis (high white blood cell count) and thrombocytopenia (a low level of platelets, a type of blood cell that helps form clots after injury) when they have norovirus.
Rare Symptoms
Over time, norovirus-related vomiting and diarrhea may sometimes lead to fluid loss and dehydration. Being dehydrated can lead to serious consequences or even become fatal, especially if you’re very young, older than 65, or have another underlying health condition.
The typical signs of dehydration are:
- Urinating less frequently
- Sweating less than usual
- Very dark-colored urine
- Increased thirst
- Sore throat
- Dry mouth or dry skin
- Dizziness that worsens when you stand up
- Fatigue
Because those who have weakened immune systems tend to have symptoms for longer, dehydration can become even more severe among people who are immunocompromised. Serious complications of dehydration, such as confusion, fainting, lack of urination, elevated heart rate, rapid breathing, and shock, are medical emergencies that can occur in rare instances. Drinking water and increasing your fluid intake are important when you have norovirus.
Symptoms in Children
Since this infection is highly contagious and spreads through close contact, norovirus is relatively common in infants, toddlers, and young children. Norovirus symptoms in children are similar to the symptoms adults experience. If your child has norovirus, they may experience:
- Diarrhea
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache and body pain
- Fever or chills
- Dry mouth or tongue
- Crying without producing tears
- Lack of diaper wetting for three or more hours
- Irritability or restlessness
- Excessive sleepiness or drowsiness
When to Contact a Healthcare Provider
While most cases of norovirus infection resolve on their own, some cases can become very serious. In addition, potentially dangerous bacterial or viral infections can cause symptoms that are similar to norovirus symptoms. That said, knowing when to contact a healthcare provider—or call for emergency help—is critical.
In general, if you’ve had symptoms for longer than three days or are unable to hold down food or liquids, you should call your healthcare provider. If you or a loved one are experiencing severe symptoms of dehydration (such as fainting, lack of urination, and rapid breathing), it's important to get medical care urgently.
A Quick Review
Norovirus is a highly contagious infection that causes inflammation of the digestive tract. Symptoms of this infection usually occur between 12 and 48 hours of exposure to the virus. If you contract this infection, it's common to experience symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain. But, norovirus can also cause symptoms like fever, chills, and dehydration. If you have symptoms for three or more days or are experiencing severe symptoms of dehydration, it's best to see your healthcare provider immediately for medical support.
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Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
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| Sir Isaac Newton by Enoch Seeman, 1730. |
In one list of the most influential people in history, the English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton ranks second, after Muhammad, and just ahead of Jesus Christ. Newton's ranking is not surprising because he was considered a near-deity in the seventeenth century. Many of Newton's contemporaries regarded him as a god, and few today would disagree that he was one of the greatest scientists that ever lived (Bragg, 1998).
As the founding father of modern science, Newton challenged Aristotelianism, for centuries the received wisdom on the nature of the universe (it ascribed an inner purpose to everything in nature), and was the first to explain the universe in terms we understand and use today. Working alone, he studied the nature of light and the construction of telescopes, formulated laws of motion, and invented calculus contemporaneously with Leibniz. (He accused Leibniz of plagiarism and engaged in a long and bitter dispute over priority.) He became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1667, and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669. In 1687, he expounded his theory of universal gravitation in Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. He was appointed master of the London Mint and became a wealthy man; he sat in Parliament, wrote widely on the Bible and other subjects, and was president of the Royal Society from 1703 to the end of his life.
There is little doubt that Newton showed high-functioning autism/Asperger Syndrome. He certainly displayed the traits of autistic psychopathology, described by Hans Asperger in 1944, with his odd, naive, inappropriate emotional detachment, egocentricity, and hypersensitivity, in addition to his circumscribed interests. Biographies of the genius give many accounts of his strange behavior, although earlier biographers tended to perpetuate myths about his iconic status (see Note 2). A modern biography by Michael White, Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer, debunks many of the myths and shows how Newton conspired in his own mythologizing, ever careful of his self-image and legacy. He had good reason to do so. Despite being the founder of modern mechanical theory grounded in logic, he was also an alchemist and an advocate of Arianism (see Note 3) — facts he was at pains to conceal in the climate of religious intolerance that swept England during the seventeenth century — and was fascinated by numerology and chronology.
Family and Early Life
Newton was born on Christmas day, 1642, in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire; he was educated locally and at Trinity College, Cambridge. His father was illiterate and died before Newton's birth but managed to leave his family well provided for. Legend has it that Newton was tiny at birth and required the greatest of care to survive his first few days of life. When he was 3 years old, his mother remarried and went to live with her new husband, an aging local rector, leaving Isaac in the care of his grandparents and making frequent but short visits to see him. The trauma of maternal separation had a profound effect on him, according to White. Newton despised his stepfather, and his resentment of his mother scarcely abated when she returned 11 years later with three children in tow, following the death of her second husband. Little is known about her relationship with her son except that she made him sole heir to the estate and wrote him a letter while he was at Cambridge expressing her maternal love.
Like many geniuses throughout history, Newton performed poorly at school, played truant, and was close to the bottom of his class. Only after he was sent away to the King’s School in nearby Grantham and lodged with a local apothecary with an extensive library did an interest in learning awake in him. As the mathematician Ramanujan (who is believed to have had Asperger Syndrome) was captivated as a boy by books on mathematics (Fitzgerald, 2004), so Newton was captivated when 13 years old by The Mysteries of Nature and Art by John Bate. The book was to have a lasting influence on him. It showed how to make machines and devices, with an emphasis on elements of experimentation and practical skills.
Newton was clearly a natural autodidact, like Wittgenstein and other geniuses. When he first arrived at Trinity College, he had a limited knowledge of mathematics — simple arithmetic, algebra, and a little trigonometry — but taught himself advanced mathematics in a few years. Many of the great minds, such as Darwin, Einstein, Ramanujan, and Wittgenstein, had only a rudimentary technical knowledge of their subjects when first entering universities. Those with Asperger Syndrome have a liking for facts, rules, and logic, and Newton was no exception. Like Wittgenstein, he had a profound interest in logic, which inevitably extended to calculation and mechanisms.
Social Behavior
Throughout his life, Newton showed severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction. White (1997) described him as “a secretive man, a man coiled in upon himself, detached from the world” (p. 2). As a child he was sober and quiet, and wasted little time playing with other boys. He has been described as a difficult man and a misanthropist. Newton showed a clear lack of desire to interact with peers. For long periods of his life, he was absorbed in his work at Cambridge and secluded from everyday affairs. He was a recluse and a loner — at Cambridge he was an extreme loner. There is no record of any personal interaction with other students, except that he may have loathed his roommate.
John Gribbin, quoted in On Giants’ Shoulders (Bragg, 1998), sums up his estimation of Newton as a weird man who made few friends. During his time at the university Newton did little to encourage others to like him: His decision to become a money lender could not have endeared him to people, although he was not excessively interested in money, despite achieving fame and fortune as a result of his scientific discoveries; avarice was out of keeping with his religious feelings. Even as an alchemist, he was not driven by the prospect of material reward. In reality he was a small-time money lender and in later life, when living in comparative comfort, gave generously to the many relatives seeking financial help. At Trinity College he lived a life of austerity, in much the same way that Ludwig Wittgenstein did. White (1997) noted that Newton existed in a permanent state of self-imposed isolation. Living in austerity and isolation in order to pursue their interests is a recurring feature of those with autism and genius.
On first arriving at Cambridge, Newton was treated as a social inferior and made to empty bedpans and clean the rooms of the more privileged students to earn his keep (White, 1997). His mother did little to ease his financial burden, in the hope that her son would abandon his university education. His humiliation, according to White, served only to strengthen his lifelong desire for improved social status and influence.
The inability, and lack of desire, to interact with peers was most acute in Newton's treatment of students. Like many people of genius, he was a poor teacher. According to White (1997), he never enjoyed teaching and cared little for his students: “Like many men of his stature, he found it difficult to bring his intellect into line with young students or those of far lesser ability, even for a short period” (p. 164). Indeed, Newton's unpopularity as a lecturer is legendary. After he was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, “not a single student showed up for Newton's second lecture, and throughout almost every lecture for the next seventeen years (when he gave up all pretence of teaching and turned his position into a sinecure) Newton talked to an empty room, listening merely to his own voice bouncing back at him’ (White, 1997, p. 164).
Newton showed a lack of appreciation of social cues. There are numerous anecdotes about how he often forgot the company he was with. When he had guests he might go into another room for a bottle of wine, forget why he had gone there, sit down and proceed to work for hours, forgetting all about the guests (Bragg, 1998). This is very like Wittgenstein, who would keep his companions waiting for hours, having forgotten about them while absorbed in his work.
Throughout his life, Newton shared close relationships — many of which were not sustained — with only a handful of people. As is often the way with people with Asperger Syndrome, he formed a relationship with a man of similar temperament, John Wickins at Cambridge (White, 1997). Wickins worked as his laboratory assistant for many years and they shared rooms for 20 years, but little is known about their time together. Afterwards Wickins became a clergyman and had little contact with Newton. White (1997) speculates that given that nature of their “clinical break,” it is possible that they had a sexual relationship, although there is no hard evidence to this effect (p. 235).
Similarly, Newton formed an intimate relationship with Nicholas Fatio de Duillier, a young Swiss mathematician who came to England with Cartesian ideas but was “soon drawn into Newton's mechanical universe” (White, 1997, pp. 238-239). Their relationship lasted four years. White speculated that Fatio charmed the older man with a “blend of intelligence, flattery and imagination which interacted with a nascent and largely suppressed sexual interest on Newton's part” (p. 245). It is highly likely that Newton was a repressed homosexual, and by some twist of fate Fatio managed to bring this out. There is no evidence of any physical contact, but Newton’s emotional defenses had been breached, making him extremely vulnerable. According to White, the intense relationship ended in June 1693 and was never resumed.
White (1997) also suggested that Newton may have had a romantic liaison with a woman named Lady Norris and possibly proposed to her. However, given Newton's highly secretive nature, it is difficult to substantiate the claim. The only evidence comes from John Conduitt, who supposedly copied a letter of proposal from an original by Newton.
In later life Newton did show some capacity to form fulfilling and lasting relationships, especially with John Locke, the British empirical philosopher. Newton and Locke had an immediate affinity for each other, whereby Locke became his intellectual companion. In part it sprang from a meeting of minds: Locke’s philosophy claimed that all human knowledge was derived from experience. Not surprisingly, his relationship with Newton was quite intense at an intellectual level; together they were later seen as the “twin pillars upon which the Age of Reason was built” (White, 1997, p. 235). Newton opened up to the older Locke, going so far as to reveal his alchemical practices to him.
Newton networked very cleverly, through the impressive power of his intellect rather than with natural charm. Throughout his life there were men who acted as father-figures and career-enhancers for him, such as the mathematician Isaac Barrow, the philosopher Henry More, and the Cambridge fellow Humphrey Babington (White, 1997).
Narrow Interests/Obsessiveness
As a young boy, Newton was absent-minded and had a capacity to become absorbed in his interests, such as reading. White (1997) noted that he had a tendency to read a book under a tree rather than watch for straying sheep as he ought to have done. On one occasion he returned from the local town with only a halter in his hand, oblivious to the horse that had slipped it.
Newton showed extraordinary intensity of focus in his work. For him, truth did not come from social relationships but from silent and unbroken meditation, as noted by John Maynard Keynes (1947). Newton was the type of person who elevated the principles of hard work and dedication to learning as the highest hopes of humanity. He could concentrate on a single problem for many decades, and revealed, “I keep the subject constantly before me, till the first dawnings open slowly, by little and little, into the full and clear light” (White, 1997, p. 85). In contrast to Wittgenstein, who read little and paraded his ignorance of other philosophers’ work, Newton studied his subject both intensively and extensively. The reason was that he was searching for the “frame of nature” or a unified theory of matter. In this respect he left no stone unturned in the pursuit of truth, even believing that alchemy, too, offered a way.
Because of his all-absorbing interest in science, he had no time for literature, art, or music; he was similar to Wittgenstein in deploring time being wasted when it could be spent on work. His assistant, Humphrey Newton (no relation), reported, “I never saw him take any recreation or pastime ... thinking all hours lost that were not spent in his studies, to which he kept so close that he seldom left his chamber” (White, 1997, p. 214). When in the pursuit of knowledge, Newton neglected to eat, as described by Humphrey:
So intent, so serious [was he] ... that he ate very sparingly, nay, sometimes he forgot to eat at all, so that going into his chamber, I have found his mess untouched. When I have reminded him, he would reply: Have I! Then making to the table, would eat a bit or two standing, for I cannot say, I ever saw him sit at table by himself. (White, 1997, p. 214)
Similarly, he would continue to work “without any concern for or seeming want of his night’s sleep.” Humphrey recounted his sleeping habits:
He very rarely went to bed, till 2 or 3 of the clock, sometimes not till 5 or 6, lying about 4 or 5 hours, especially at spring & fall of the leaf, at which times he used to imply about 6 weeks in his laboratory, the fire scarcely going out either night or day, he sitting up one night, as I did another until he had finished his chemical experiments, in the performance of which he was the most accurate, strict, exact. What his aim might be, I was not able to penetrate into ... (White, 1997, p. 213)
Like Wittgenstein, Newton pushed himself to the utmost limits. In completing the Principia, he worked himself to the point of obsession and to the brink of self-destruction. From an early age, he had a reckless disregard for his own safety. For example, when conducting experiments on color, he almost suffered permanent blindness after looking at the sun for long periods. Blindness could equally have resulted when he performed risky experiments on light and vision: For example, he once wrote that he had put a small dagger “between my eye and the bone as near to the backside of my eye as I could: & pressing my eye with the end of it (so as to make the curvature in my eye) there appeared several white, dark and colored circles” (White, 1997, p. 61).
Routines/Control
Newton was a meticulous record-keeper in every aspect of his life: diary entries, financial accounts, and copious notebooks on experiments. White (1997) noted that Newton was obsessive from an early age; while an apothecary’s apprentice, he kept “meticulous records of his experiments and noted any recipes he came across in the apothecary’s books” (p. 132). Like Wittgenstein, he made numerous drafts of his work: There are often 20 or 30 drafts of a single document among his papers.
The necessity of mathematical rules and logic underpinning his empirical science was crucial for Newton. However, he applied such rules not only in science but also in alchemy and biblical prophecy. He established 15 rules to analyze the text of the Bible, whereby one key approach was to reduce everything to its simplest form.
Like many with Asperger Syndrome, Newton had no interest in sports or pastimes and wanted to control peers by having them focus on his intellectual interests. In doing so he displayed how neurotic, obsessional, introverted, hypersensitive, competitive, egotistical, arrogant, and dislikable he could be. Indeed, he demanded total control over his peers, believing himself to be the foremost scientist of the period, and was ruthless with anyone who crossed his path.
He was also quite paranoid and secretive. He became embroiled in intense rivalry with his peers and had tremendous ill-feeling toward the scientific community, especially in his early dealings with the Royal Society. This was not dissimilar to Wittgenstein’s total disregard for Cambridge philosophers in the early twentieth century. Newton engaged in ruthless competitive conflicts with the astronomer John Flamsteed, the philosopher Gottfried Leibniz, and the scientist Robert Hooke. With Leibniz, as we have seen, the issue centered on who invented calculus first. Newton, in paranoid fashion, believed that it was he and not Leibniz, as Leibniz claimed. In reality, they developed it independently, oblivious to each other’s work at the time.
He was also hypersensitive to criticism and could not stand being challenged over his ideas. Like Wittgenstein, he was slow to publish his work until he thought it well developed, suspicious that others would plagiarize and misinterpret it for their own advantage. After he realized the basic concept of gravity, 20 years passed before the publication of Principia Mathematica in 1687.
In 1672, when elected a member of the Royal Society, Newton first came into contact with the scientific elite of England. He and Hooke clashed professionally and personally and remained bitter enemies until Hooke’s death in 1703. Newton abruptly resigned from the Society when he deemed that its method of verifying ideas through observation ran counter to his own, and resumed his monastic lifestyle at Cambridge. Years later, when he took up presidency of the Society, he exerted absolute control and was extremely manipulative in making or breaking the careers of his contemporaries.
White (1997) claimed that the control he exerted over organizations that he was involved with made them an extension of his own personality. Following relentless arguments with Flamsteed, then Royal Astronomer, Newton removed Flamsteed’s name from various parts of the Principia, thus diminishing his significant contribution to the work. In this respect, Newton displayed an autistic aggression in his dealing with peers: “(Newton’s aim was) to make me come under him ... force me to comply with his humors, and flatter him ... (and) have all things in his own power, to spoil or sink them; that he might force me to second his designs and applaud him” (White, 1997, p. 323; emphasis in Flamsteed’s original).
As Newton grew older, his power and influence grew. In his eyes, knowledge was power, and, “Having now garnered the power and influence he had sought throughout his life, his ascension to the status of icon appeared unstoppable” (White, 1997, p. 293). It is not surprising that he exercised complete domination of the Royal Society. His extraordinary combativeness and misanthropy, however, were not reserved for his academic peers. When working at the Royal Mint, he soon came into conflict with the governor of the Tower, Lord Lucas. He wielded considerable power at the Mint in his dealings with “clippers” and counterfeiters. The practice of counterfeiting and coin clipping (shaving off a small portion of precious metal for profit) was widespread at the time, and Newton was extremely energetic and merciless in putting counterfeiters to the gallows. He was a harsh taskmaster and drove the workers, although he drove himself equally hard. At this time, he worked about 16 hours a day, with the same focused energy he showed in his experimental work.
Newton was a supreme egotist, obsessed with his self-image and notions of immortality. According to White (1997), he made sure that the “image he cultivated would seep into recollections and memoirs long after he had been replaced” at the Royal Society (p. 308). Having reached the pinnacle of his academic career as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, Newton sought other ways to accrue power and influence, which culminated in a knighthood in 1705. He acquired a taste for official responsibility after he opposed James II’s attempts to foist Catholicism on the thoroughly Protestant Cambridge. Consequently, he twice became a member of Parliament representing Cambridge at Westminster, as well as master of the Royal Mint. He also became president of the Royal Society, and revitalized the then flagging institution.
Language and Humor
In Newton's case, there is a lack of clear evidence of speech and language problems and delayed development. Typically for someone with Asperger Syndrome, he had difficulties with humor and was not given to mirth. His assistant Humphrey Newton claimed that he saw Newton laugh only once.
Nonverbal Behavior
There is no clear evidence that Newton displayed any limited use of gestures or clumsy/gauche body language or that he had inappropriate facial expressions, although White (1997) has noted his brooding, dark, piercing eyes and “stern gaze” (p. 294). Certainly, from portraits he appears to have had a peculiar, stiff gaze. It seems probable that he showed limited facial expression, considering that his assistant saw him laugh only once. Nonetheless, Newton evidently had an extraordinary effect on people. Despite his natural misanthropy, he had the power to impress, as those with genius often do.
Lack of Empathy
Newton showed a clear lack of empathy, coupled with vindictiveness and insensitivity toward his peers, in part due to intense rivalry. “For him, time did not heal: his bitterness and resentment merely festered. He had almost no capacity for forgiveness” (White, 1997, p. 340). His extreme rivalry with the scientist Robert Hooke permitted only a begrudging acknowledgment of the latter’s collaboration on the experiments on light. Newton's celebrated words, “if I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of giants” were double-edged, according to White. The statement is often read as a compliment to scientists who had gone before him, but in fact was a jab at Hooke - a prolific scientist himself - who was so “stooped and physically deformed that he had the appearance of a dwarf” (White, p. 187). White noted that the comment showed the “truly spiteful, uncompromising and razor-sharp viciousness” of Newton’s character.
Autistic Superego
Newton possibly had an “autistic superego,” as evident from accounts of his early life. Like Wittgenstein, he was preoccupied with sin and wrote out confessions of “felonies against the lord.” One of these lists consisted of 45 transgressions, including “threatening my father and mother Smith to burn them and the house over them” and “wishing death and hoping it to some.” Other misdemeanors included “refusing to go to the close at my mother’s command,” “striking many,” “peevishness with my mother,” “punching my sister,” and “falling out with the servants” (White, 1997, pp. 17, 25).
Visual-Spatial Ability
Newton showed the excellent visuo-spatial ability commonly found in those with autism. Like Wittgenstein, he could draw well. Stukeley gave an account of his early drawings: “Sir Isaac furnished his whole room with pictures of his own making, which probably he copied from prints, as well as from life” (White, 1997, p. 21).
Newton's visual-spatial ability was particularly evident in his passion for model building as a boy — a suitably insular pastime for someone who apparently had no friends at school. He was a good practical experimenter, starting in his childhood when he made quite sophisticated toys. A working “windmill” driven by mice running round a treadmill amazed his contemporaries for years afterward. He is best remembered for building kites. According to Brewster (1855), Newton apparently flew them with lanterns attached. Later he single-handedly built a telescope, which was central to his calculation of gravity. Undoubtedly, he was a prime example of a mechanical man. Interestingly, as a boy Wittgenstein built a sewing machine and had a highly developed visual-spatial ability, too. Both were interested in light and color: Newton had a lifelong fascination with the color crimson. Indeed Newton's first experiments were probably investigations of the nature of light (White, 1997).
Religious Disposition
The religious disposition commonly found in great minds, such as those of Wittgenstein and Einstein, was evident in Newton too — he had a profound interest in religion and spent a lifetime studying biblical prophecy. Gribbin claimed that he became an unorthodox kind of Christian who studied the bible obsessively (cited in Bragg, 1998). Although Newton saw the Creator's presence in everything, he was more interested in the spiritual dimension of religion than in its received wisdoms, and this applied equally to his obsession with alchemy:
The spiritual element of the experiment was in fact the key to the true alchemist’s philosophy ... for many alchemists, it was the practical process that was in fact the allegory and their search was really for the elixir or the philosophers’ stone within them ... following a path to enlightenment - allowing themselves to be transmuted into “gold.” This is why the alchemist placed such importance on “purity of spirit” and spent long years in preparation for the task of transmutation before so much as touching a crucible. (White, 1997, p. 127; emphasis in original; see Note 4)
Not surprisingly given the climate of the time, Brewster (1855) described Newton’s writings on alchemy as the obvious production of a fool and a knave. Newton's work as an alchemist was anathema to the traditional world of science and to society in general. More seriously, attempting to transmute base metals into gold was a capital offence. According to White (1997), the story that Newton's inspiration for the theory of gravity was a falling apple was a fabrication and almost certainly told in order to suppress the fact that much of the inspiration came from his subsequent alchemical work.
Newton wrote a “long and clumsy book” entitled The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, published posthumously in 1728 by Conduitt (White, 1997, p. 155). In it his fascination with “numerology, time-scales and even biblical prophecy” is evident. His chronology put the death of Christ at 34 CE; the end of Church of Rome’s spiritual domination at 1638-1639; the second coming of Christ at 1948; the cleansing of the sanctuary, which would usher in a thousand years of peace, at 2370-2436. White (1997) pointed out that Newton, “the towering intellect, the pioneer and father of modern science, can now stand alongside Newton the mystic, the emotionally desiccated obsessive and the self-proclaimed, but deluded, discoverer of the philosophers’ stone — divested but undiminished” (p. 5). Likening Newton to a mystic is resonant with some views of Wittgenstein.
Puritanism offered Newton a world of strict emotional and sensual limits, where he did not have to find excuses for his inability to love. Rather, the twin pillars of God and knowledge replaced all other needs (White, 1997). His pious manner was mixed with an honesty commonly found in individuals with Asperger Syndrome. After years of squabbling between Newton and Leibniz over who had first discovered calculus, a committee was established to settle the dispute. Newton controlled the committee and even wrote its report, yet his fierce selfimportance made him deny this later. It was a “rare blatant lie from Newton, the most pious of men,” according to White (1997, p. 336).
Motor Clumsiness
There is no evidence that Newton had motor clumsiness. More than likely he had great fine-motor skills because of his adeptness at model making. His handwriting was very tiny; the implications of this are not clear.
Narcissism and Grandiosity
Newton showed many features of a narcissistic personality — grandiosity, hypersensitivity to other people’s assessment of him, lack of empathy, difficulty in deriving satisfaction from his work, and interpersonal exploitation with arrogant or haughty behavior and attitudes. As mentioned, he was paranoid and constantly fearful of people stealing his work. He was also a hypochondriac, given to concocting remedies for himself and others. These characteristics are quite common in persons with Asperger Syndrome and genius.
Newton had grandiose ideas, particularly in terms of mythologizing his birth. That it occurred on Christmas day, along with the miraculous nature of his survival, held potent meaning for him. Furthermore, his contribution to science was dependent on his service to God; indeed, his very vocation was to “unravel the laws governing God’s universe” (White, 1997, pp. 64-65). This is close to views expressed by the mathematician Paul Erdés and Albert Einstein with respect to their work.
Newton showed a sense of entitlement to favorable treatment. For example, he sought a special dispensation from Charles II that would allow him to remain as professor at Cambridge but without taking holy orders as was required at the time. Again, this is not dissimilar to Wittgenstein’s demands.
Mental Illness
Newton went through an episode of severe paranoid psychosis in 1693. It was temporary and believed to have been precipitated by the breakup of his intimate relationship with Fatio de Duillier. Nothing supports the view that it was chemically induced or work related. Newton wrote to Samuel Pepys, “I am extremely troubled at the embroilment I am in, and have neither ate or slept well this twelve month, nor have my former consistency of mind” (White, 1997, p. 247). While psychotic, Newton accused Locke of outlandish conduct: trying to “embroil me with women & by other means I was so much affected with it as that when one told me you were sickly & would not live I answered that it was better if you were dead” (White, 1997, p. 248). He recovered from the psychotic episode.
Originality of Thought
Newton's originality of thought marked his credentials as a genius. Newton was a complex and enigmatic genius. Gribbin noted that the essential feature of Newton's work is not what he did but the way he did it. The key point is that he invented what is now the scientific method, the idea of doing experiments to test theories and hypotheses (cited in Bragg, 1998). White (1997) claimed that Newton's great achievement was to clarify and to bring together the individual breakthroughs of men like Galileo, Descartes, and Kepler, and in doing so he produced a general overview — a set of laws and rules that has given modern physics a definite structure. Nonetheless, Newton’s work demonstrates an extremely high level of mathematical creativity, which lies at the core of his genius.
Newton, in developing an intellectual foundation for science, stands in opposition to Wittgenstein, who adopted an anti-theoretical view of the world. Despite international recognition following the publication of the Principia, Newton felt that his life’s work was unfinished. He continued to pursue a unified theory of matter until the final days of his life.
Newton's approach was to reduce everything to its simplest form, whether in science or biblical prophecy. The concept of simplicity was similarly espoused by Wittgenstein in his philosophy (Fitzgerald, 2004) and Einstein in his physics; as a framework it features strongly in the work of many geniuses.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that this complex and enigmatic genius was a perpetual loner, imposed extreme control on himself and others, and had the condition now called high-functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome. Newton was the greatest genius of the past one thousand years, and one can see the link between his psychopathological traits and his enormous creativity (Fitzgerald, 1999). His creative output was helped by his social detachment and his obsessive, driven approach to his work.
- Michael Fitzgerald, Former Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
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