Joe Moran

Joe Moran's website: https://joemoran.net/

Sources

1. Moran, Joe. “BOREDOM.” Keywords for Travel Writing Studies: A Critical Glossary, edited by Charles Forsdick et al., Anthem Press, New York, NY, 2019, pp. 28–30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvg5bsp2.14. Accessed 27 Mar. 2020.

What is boredom as a concept

This article discussed how boredom was defined in the past and how it is defined in the modern sense. It says that boredom was defined as a lack of moral and internal satisfaction, but now it is defined as a lack of outside stimulation. Likely, this is due to the fact that we live in a highly entertained culture that is driven by media and technology that allows us intake information without a challenge. In short, it defines boredom in the modern sense as “a lack of external stimulation.”

2. “Putting Boredom in Its Place.” Boredom: A Lively History, by Peter Toohey, Yale University Press, 2011, pp. 8–47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vm449.5. Accessed 27 Mar. 2020.

Boredom and disgust

This author gave a lot of literary context in order to explain boredom. In short, he says that boredom is “predictability, monotony, and confinement.” I think in the modern sense, it definitely makes sense because we are a society driven by external sources like I mentioned before. However, in the case of Isaac Newton and the previous article – inwards is where satisfaction truly lies. It is our job to do some introspection and use our minds to occupy ourselves rather than relying on something/someone else entertaining us.

3. Storr, Anthony. “Isaac Newton.” British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Edition), vol. 291, no. 6511, 1985, pp. 1779–1784. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/29521701. Accessed 27 Mar. 2020.

The psychology of Newton

This article was awesome to read through because it also explained his behavior with himself and others. To address the root of the question, I can confirm that he “formulated his basic laws of mechanics, his optical observations on the nature of light, the calculus, and the law of universal gravitation” between 1664-1666. He was between the ages of 21 and 23 and experienced the plague at this time. However, the story of a fruit falling from a tree (universal gravitation law) from inside his dorm is not confirmed. Rather, the author states, “this latter discovery is generally supposed to have been made in his mother’s garden in Lincolnshire” when he left Cambridge, Trinity College, as it shut due to the London Plague.

4. Keynes, Milo. “The Personality of Isaac Newton.” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, vol. 49, no. 1, 1995, pp. 1–56. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/531881. Accessed 27 Mar. 2020.

Confirms previous article facts and includes the apple story

This author confirmed everything from the previous one: facts, dates, age, and discoveries. It is safe to assume that these are true; however, it also included the apple story that I mentioned. The author did clarify that in Newton’s writings it is sometimes mentioned and sometimes not. The story of the apple took place in Londonshire, north of Cambridge, at his mother’s house in 1666 – he stayed here to escape the London Plague. This led him to understand universal gravity (a large question in astronomy when observing the moon), but not calculus. Calculus, and other discoveries during these formative years, all took place at Trinity College in Cambridge and have no connection to the apple story in his mother’s garden.