

Ground-Breaking Science: Very Old Papers Are Both Awesome and Hilarious - araneae
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/royal-society-greatest-hits/

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Tichy
"Newton’s earlier studies of light, in which he stuck a needle into his eye
and recorded how colors changed as he pressed his retina into different
shapes."

That's so unbelievable... (not that I don't believe it, but how could he??).

~~~
teilo
Because it was a blunt needle, more akin to a knitting needle, and he didn't
puncture his eye with it, but inserted it into the socket, between his eye and
the bone of his skull, so that he could get it as far back as he could, and
deform the back part of his eye.

~~~
Tichy
Ah - still scary, but not nearly as scary as puncturing the eye.

