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Full Idea
The connection between the different concept in [Newton's] system is so close that one could generally not change any one of the concepts without destroying the whole system
Gist of Idea
If you changed one of Newton's concepts you would destroy his whole system
Source
comment on Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687]) by Werner Heisenberg - Physics and Philosophy 06
Book Ref
Heisenberg,Werner: 'Physics and Philosophy' [Penguin 1989], p.82
A Reaction
This holistic situation would seem to count against Newton's system, rather than for it. A good system should depend on nature, not on other parts of the system. Compare changing a rule of chess.
| 17546 | If you changed one of Newton's concepts you would destroy his whole system [Heisenberg on Newton] |
| 18197 | Experiments only test groups of hypotheses, and can't show which one is wrong [Duhem] |
| 1625 | Statements about the external world face the tribunal of sense experience as a corporate body [Quine] |
| 2561 | For Feyerabend the meaning of a term depends on a whole theory [Feyerabend, by Rorty] |