Isaac Newton’s Needle Experiment
Curious about optics, Isaac Newton once slid a long darning needle—called a bodkin—between his eye and its socket, twisting it to see what shapes danced across his vision. He described “colored rings and circles” with unsettling enthusiasm, casually noting temporary blindness afterward. The father of calculus literally poked his eye out for science.
Newton conducted the grisly test alone in his darkened room, later sketching the psychedelic patterns that appeared. Although his sight returned, he admitted the pain was “tolerable but not fit for common repetition.” Today’s ethics boards would faint, but Newton’s willingness to sacrifice bodily comfort illustrates a trait shared by many pioneers: when curiosity calls, common sense sometimes steps aside—preferably wearing safety goggles.
