Nerdy Christmas Facts: Sabine Hossenfelder

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, History of Science, Nature of Science

Ed Hessler 

On Christmas Day, December 25 in 1642 was born Sir Isaac Newton. Well, his birthdate depends on which calendar you choose to use. At the time of his birth two calendars were in use, the Julian or Old Style (Protestant and Orthodox) and Gregorian or New Style (Roman Catholic). The New Style date is January 4, 1643. 

Sabine Hossenfelder uses the occasion of Newton's birthday to present some nerdy facts (she discusses the calendar issue).

She begins by saying "You have probably noticed that in recent years worshipping Newton on Christmas has become somewhat of a fad on social media (I hadn't but I don't use social media.) People are wishing each other a happy Newtonmas...." 

Here is the video (11m 42s) with the transcript below which you may also watch on YouTube (without the script). "By the way," Hossenfelder asks, "did you know that Xmas isn't an atheist term for Christmas?" She tells us why, a story about alphabets.

The post is a lot of fun, interesting--about that Happy Newtonmas fad, not as new as we think--and the facts are of the kind "that you can put to good use in every appropriate and inapproprate occasion."