The end of the world has been predicted hundreds
of times, and in the modern era, it seems
every year Armageddon is upon us.
There are predictions by religious scholars,
astrologers, authors and even everyday people
who claim to have been delivered a message
of pending doom.
But what about a prediction by one of the
greatest scientific minds of all time?
Could there be any basis of truth?
That’s what we’ll find out, in this episode
of The Infographics Show: 2060 - The Year
of Apocalypse According to Isaac Newton.
Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist,
astronomer, theologian, mathematician, and
author.
He was born on December 25th, 1642 and died
84 years later, on March 20th, 1726.
Till today, He is widely recognized as one
of the most influential scientists of all
time.
He is best known for his work on gravity,
and the story that led him to the discovery
of its existence is one of the most famous
anecdotes in the history of science.
A young Isaac Newton was sitting in his garden
when suddenly; boink…an apple fell on his
head.
In a stroke of brilliant insight, he came
up with a new theory - gravity.
He realized that the force that brought the
apple crashing toward the ground, hitting
him on the head, also keeps the moon falling
toward the Earth and the Earth falling toward
the sun.
The story is more than likely embellished
by Newton and the generations of storytellers
who came after him.
But a cool story all the same and it is has
remained the story that Newton is known for.
As well as his work on gravity, Newton developed
the three laws of motion, which form the basic
principles of modern physics, and he was the
first scientist to be knighted, which is a
great honor in England and the reason he has
"Sir" at the beginning of his name.
So how did this popular 17th century scientist
become known for predicting the end of the
world?
Well, in 2003, British newspaper, The Daily
Telegraph, published a story announcing that
Newton had predicted the end of the world
would occur in 2060.
The story was based on interviews with Stephen
Snobelen, a professor of the history of science
and technology at the University of King's
College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Malcolm
Neaum, the producer of the British Broadcasting
TV documentary Newton, The dark heretic, which
was first shown in March 2003.
Although the 2060 date was known to the community
of scholars who study Newton’s theology,
this was the first time the theory had been
mentioned publically, and following the newspaper
article, the news spread around the world.
It made the front page in Israel and Canada,
was on the radio, TV, and hundreds of Internet
news sites in all the major European languages.
The news exposed that Newton’s theories
about Armageddon had been unearthed by academics
from handwritten manuscripts in a library
in Jerusalem.
Newton's notes showed that he made attempts
to decode the Bible, as he believed the book
contained God's secret laws for the universe.
He scribbled a date of 2060 on a scrap of
paper, as he thought this to be the date set
for the apocalypse.
But how did Newton come up with this date
of 2060?
Well, in Newton eyes, the Bible was a revelation
from God, and God was not bound by time as
we humans are, he could see both the beginning
and the end of time.
Newton’s thinking was that the end of the
world had already been laid out in the Book
of Daniel, with what are known as prophetic
dates.
These are periods of time represented as days
in the bible and using a “day-for-a-year
principle,” Newton was able to mathematically
predict future events and ultimately the apocalypse.
The dates in the Book of Daniel that Newtown
felt were important were 1260, 1290, 1335
and 2300, and he used these to calculate doomsday.
He got to the year 2060 as follows: The year
800 is a highly significant time in history,
as it is the year Charlemagne was crowned
emperor of Rome by Pope Leo the 3rd, at St.
Peter’s in Rome.
Since Newton believed that the 1260 years
corresponded to the duration of the corruption
of the Church, he added 1260 to 800 A.D. and
arrived at the date 2060.
This date would mark the “fall of Babylon”
and ending of the apostate Church.
Newton didn’t believe the world would “end”
in the sense of disappearing; his belief was
that Christ would return and reign for a 1,000
years.
The Jewish diaspora would return to Israel
and would, he wrote, set up “a flourishing
and everlasting Kingdom.”
Newton was adamant that the interpretation
of biblical prophecy was of the highest importance
and a duty he should undertake.
Luckily for all of us who’ll be around in
2060, Newton based his predictions on religion
only and not reasoning.
And though Newton was regarded as a strict
rationalist, the pages of apocalyptic notes
that he left behind reveal there was a deeply
spiritual side to him.
He confidently stated in one letter, that
the Bible proved the world would end in 2060,
adding: "It may end later, but I see no reason
for it’s ending sooner."
Could Newton be right?
Is the world going to end?
It seems unlikely as every year there are
doomsday prediction dates that come and go.
But either way, we only have to wait 42 years
to find out for sure.
Do you have other examples of people predicting
the end of the world?
Maybe you have your own theory?
Let us know in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video
called This Is How It All Ends - The Vacuum
Metastability Event!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!
