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Full Idea
You sometimes speak of gravity as essential and inherent in matter. Pray do no ascribe that notion to me; for the cause of gravity is what I do not pretend to know.
Gist of Idea
I do not pretend to know the cause of gravity
Source
Isaac Newton (Letters to Bentley [1692], 1693.01.17)
Book Ref
Newton,Isaac: 'Philosophical Writings' [CUP 2004], p.100
A Reaction
I take science to be a two-stage operation - first we discern the regularities, and then we explain them. Evolution was spotted, then explained by Darwin. Cancer from cigarettes was spotted, but hasn't been explained. Regularity is the beginning.
| 15863 | The principles of my treatise are designed to fit with a belief in God [Newton] |
| 13150 | The motions of the planets could only derive from an intelligent agent [Newton] |
| 8340 | I do not pretend to know the cause of gravity [Newton] |
| 13151 | Not all infinites are equal [Newton] |
| 13152 | We can talk of 'innumerable number', about the infinite points on a line [Newton] |
| 12178 | That gravity should be innate and essential to matter is absurd [Newton] |