Question

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" is a line which is (partially) inscribed on the side of the £2 coin, and which was also referenced in an Oasis LP title. But which British scientist is it ascribed to?

Answer 1

This line is ascribed to Issac Newton.

Isaac Newton wrote it in a letter to fellow scientist Robert Hooke - although he's not believed to have coined the phrase himself.

The phrase is understood to mean that if Newton had been able to discover more about the universe than others, then it was because he was working in the light of discoveries made by fellow scientists, either in his own time or earlier.

Actually, the £2 coin is inscribed with this quote because these words refer to Newton's work on gravity, and indicate the modest way in which he described his success as being based on the work of his predecessors.