Nature is a relentless and intelligent machine. Isaac Newton believed that the vegetative growth that he observed in his alchemical elements were the instant in which God created the universe. He believed that the contemporaneous conception of God was wrong. God was more akin to a vast complex and interconnected machine that is always creating the universe. So basically Newton science himself into heresy. And he was right! Sort of. We can now use the language of science and cybernetics to describe “God” in more precise terms. Newton was right. The original conception of God by ancient religions was more precise and measurable. They developed gods of earth, air, water, fire and other observable natural phenomena. It wasn’t until later that the idea of God was abstracted to mean an old bearded guy up in a cloud. Monotheism embodies everything, so there is no need to separate into different gods (and competing factions) lest we end up with a never-ending pantheon. One God On Duty was plenty enough. Newton seemed to have preferred the idea that God was not a nebulous abstraction but a set of natural principles that could be observed and measured. By conducting many intense experiments, he came to understand that the universe behaves like a vast and intelligent living organism.
Such airy thoughts passed through my head as I leaned against a rock and tried to sketch out the iris at the edge of the pond. I jotted down a few facts to “break in” the page. I measured the leaves and sketched their general angle and position with a mechanical pencil. I did not worry too much about the detail. I tried to think of the leaves as independent parts of a machine. The way Da Vinci perhaps would’ve thought of them. Each leaf with a specific purpose to sustain the structure of life. Then I used a fountain pen to fill in the more precise details.
There were some details in the leaves that I just couldn’t capture in the drawing because I’m not OCD enough to spend the entire day doing it. In particular, I noticed that each leaf had long thin stripes of alternating light and dark green hues about a millimeter apart. The bands were so precise that they looked as if they had been drawn by a machine or someone with a very steady hand. They were flawless. I’m sure there is a way to sketch and paint them, but I’m afraid I don’t have the skills or meticulous patience to do it. So, I cheated and just added a note about it to the sketch.
If Newton was right, and the universe is a vast intelligent machine, then each moment we spend learning about it is a moment of grace. Each piece of datum is homage to the divine process that encompasses our universe and possibly beyond. Through his alchemical studies, Newton aimed to understand how God manifested his vegetative Will in the constituents of the universe. He sought to observe and record in the language of physics, visualization, and mathematics the very act of creation. Even if you’re not religious, you have to admit that his obsessive drive for knowledge is worthy of admiration (and emulation). Of course, the poor chap lost his marbles from sniffing too much mercury, but then he recovered, became a detective, saved the British economy, and ushered new economic practices that transformed the world.
