The "standing on the shoulders of giants" quote is a bad example. It was a jibe at Hooke. From Michael White's biography of Newton: "In the last sentence Newto

The "standing on the shoulders of giants" quote is a bad example. It was a jibe at Hooke. From Michael White's biography of Newton: "In the last sentence Newton revealed the truly spiteful, uncompromising and razor-sharp viciousness of his character, for Hooke [...] was so stooped and physically deformed that he had the appearance of a dwarf"