# Was Isaac Newton gay (and non-celibate)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358 "2005-07-27T03:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kynn\_jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kynn\_jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kynn_jones)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/1 "2005-07-27T03:56:01Z")
Every biography of Isaac Newton I’ve read describes him as having led a largely celibate, solitary life; in fact it is often said he died a virgin. Recently, however, I’ve heard claims that Newton may not have had _heterosexual_ relationships, but he did have homosexual (and not entirely Platonic) ones. Is there any truth to this? KJ ---
**Author:** ![La\_Llorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@La\_Llorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Llorona)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/2 "2005-07-27T05:11:48Z")
> [@kynn jones](#): > > Is there any truth to this? Why, yes. Yes, there is. 😃 And because it’s not kosher to just drive by and make lame jokes, here’s the obligatory link to [what Cecil has to say on the subject](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_208.html). ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/3 "2005-07-27T06:52:03Z")
Although it doesn’t mention his sex life the introduction of one of physicists Stephen Hawking’s books does say that Newton was something of an unpleasant, arrogant, asshole most of his adult life. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/4 "2005-07-27T13:28:27Z")
> [@kynn jones](#): > > Recently, however, I’ve heard claims that Newton may not have had _heterosexual_ relationships, but he did have homosexual (and not entirely Platonic) ones. Is there any truth to this? The suggestion is certainly occasionly made that Newton was homosexual, but I suspect that in each instance they’re, at best, based on reading biographies that themselves don’t propose this. Indeed I suspect that all such claims ultimately derive from Frank Manuel’s - rather more cautious - interpretation of Newton’s mental life and character. He’s written a number of important books on aspects of the man, but the best known is his _A Portrait of Isaac Newton_ (1968; Da Capo, 1990). This is a Freudian biography, in the manner for which there was something of a fashion for at the time; Manuel specifically acknowledges his dept to Erik Erikson. At the heart of Manuel’s interpretation is, inevitably, Newton’s relationship with his mother. His father died during her pregnancy and so he never knew him. The mother then quickly remarried and Manuel suggests that Newton saw this as a betrayal, with the result that his childhood becomes _Hamlet_ relocated to Lincolnshire. The fraught relationship with his mother then screws up Newton’s feelings about sex and women, so that he never forms an adult relationship with any. There are also few close friendships with men. Basically, in Manuel’s view, the guy needed therapy. Lots of it. Enter Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, a Swiss would-be scientist who arrives in London in 1687. The subsequent friendship between Fatio and Newton was certainly close, at least while it lasted, and it’s invariably what people, knowingly or otherwise, have in mind when suggesting that Newton was a homosexual. Amongst the biographers, while everybody sees it as one of the most important friendships in Newton’s life, Manuel stands out for the particular importance he places on it, notably seeing it end as a crucial trigger for the breakdown he suffers in 1693. For a Freudian biographer, this is great material and hence Manuel makes the most of it. But even he rules out a physical relationship between them. > [@](#): > > [T]he character and strength of Newton’s inhibitions probably precluded both cohabitation with women and inversion, though not feelings of tenderness towards a succession of younger men, budding scientists and philosophers. And on the specific friendship with Fatio: > [@](#): > > The letters exchanged between Fatio in London and Newton in Cambridge from 1689 through the spring of 1693 glow with a warmth that is absent from Newton’s other relationships, except those with his mother and perhaps with Charles Montague. The documents are full of ambiguities, and the nature of their intimacy remains obscure, though it follows the pattern of a middle-aged bachelor’s affection for a young replica of himself when a fixation upon the mother underlies his whole emotive structure. Thus, as elsewhere in the book, Manuel raises the possibility of homosexuality as an interpretation, without regarding it as the best one. Manuel also explicity begins his chapter on Fatio by accepting the story that, late in life, Newton confided to a relative that he had been chaste throughout his life. Whatever happened with Fatio, it wasn’t physical. (Other Newtonian specialists have been slightly more cagey about this story, though all accept that it’s plausible.) But Manuel’s book seems to be where the notion that Newton was possibly homosexual entered public conciousness. Of course, we aren’t bound to follow Manuel’s interpretations and conclusions, but what I’ve read of the correspondence between Fatio and Newton certainly seems consistent with just a close friendship. In fact, the letters are entirely unremarkable in terms of their intimacy compared to those between other close friends in the period. They’re only unusual when compared to most of the rest of Newton’s. Incidentally, on the general question of Newton’s celibacy, Patricia Fara has an interesting discussion in her _Newton: The Making of Genius_ (2002; Picador, 2003, p211-13) about how the notion has been used in different images of him over the centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/5 "2005-07-27T17:40:20Z")
> [@bonzer](#): > > But Manuel’s book seems to be where the notion that Newton was possibly homosexual entered public conciousness. Of course, we aren’t bound to follow Manuel’s interpretations and conclusions, but what I’ve read of the correspondence between Fatio and Newton certainly seems consistent with just a close friendship. In fact, the letters are entirely unremarkable in terms of their intimacy compared to those between other close friends in the period. They’re only unusual when compared to most of the rest of Newton’s. > . I tend to be skeptical of most claims of this sort. We’ve almost reached a point where being gay is assumed by default in the absence of a publicly detailed active heterosexual life. Sad to say, sexual fulfillment is _not_ like air, water, and food. One _can_ live without it for protracted periods, as I’m sure many here are aware. The absence of heterosexual relationships doesn’t mean that he had homosexual ones. Maybe inventing calculus took every bit of spare energy he had to spare. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/6 "2005-07-27T18:13:10Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I tend to be skeptical of most claims of this sort. We’ve almost reached a point where being gay is assumed by default in the absence of a publicly detailed active heterosexual life. It seems that any and every Long-Dead Famous Person is claimed by someone to be gay. Leaving aside social customs that may have been very different from modern ones, the continuous claims of homosexuality leave me with a ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ feel. From Cecil’s column: > [@](#): > > … and still leave most of the day for wine, women, and song. I first read this as ‘wine, women, and **snog** ’. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/7 "2005-07-27T18:20:35Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > We’ve almost reached a point where being gay is assumed by default in the absence of a publicly detailed active heterosexual life. Turnabout is fair play. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/8 "2005-07-27T20:07:25Z")
Eh, who cares? Really, does anyone think that it would diminish his contributions to math/science if he were? The only thing that I can think of that would happen is that the Gay People would add him to the list of Famous Gay People. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-isaac-newton-gay-and-non-celibate/314358/9 "2005-07-28T01:43:42Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > One _can_ live without [sex] for protracted periods, as I’m sure many here are aware. I’ll thank you to keep your snarky speculations about my private life to yourself! 😃