President Charles M. Vest (right) joins David Dibner, president of the Dibner Fund and chairman of the board of the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, located at MIT, at a reception Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Dibner Institute's Burndy Library. It preceded a two-day symposium on Sir Isaac Newton's Natural Philosophy and an exhibition celebrating the transfer of the Grace K. Babson Collection of Newton's works from Babson College in Wellesley to permanent deposit at the Burndy Library. Scholars regard the Babson collection as the greatest assemblage of Newton material in North America. The collection, originally purchased and added to by Roger Babson, founder of Babson College, was transferred to give it heightened scholarly attention and use, and to ensure its long-term physical protection, preservation and security. More than 120 persons attended the reception, including members of the Babson family and scholars from this country and overseas who participated in the symposium. Newton developed the foundations of calculus, as well as those of mechanics and optics, at the end of the 17th century.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 15, 1995.
