Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

I first met the notion of ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ as a teenage student. In my studies in mathematical history I learnt about Sir Isaac Newton, the brilliant mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian and philosopher.

Newton wrote, ‘If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants,’ in a letter to Robert Hook in 1765. He was acknowledging that his own knowledge, achievements and discoveries were only possible because of those who came before him.

However the metaphor of ‘dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants’ was around for centuries before that. It was used to describe the medieval schools relying on and developing the great Greeks and Romans learning.

The windows of Chartres Cathedral depict the four major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) as giants; the four gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are smaller people sitting on their shoulders. They can see more than the prophets because they read the prophets’ writing about the Messiah and then met Him.

Dan Walker, in ‘Standing on the Shoulders’, describes inspirational heroes that he’s met as a broadcaster and a journalist.

He tells Martin Hibbert’s story. At the Manchester Ariana Grande concert in May 2017 Martin was the closest casualty to the bomb blast to survive. Left paralysed from the waist down and told him he would never walk again, Walker describes Martin’s determination, campaigning, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro:

‘He may spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, but standing on his shoulders gives me one of the clearest views possible of what it is to cling on to the positive in the bleakest of situations.’

I reflect on those giants whose shoulders I have been privileged to stand on, ordinary people who have shown me how to be a good father, good teacher, good Christian, good person.

I identify as a dwarf without keen vision or great height; I’ve benefited from sitting on the shoulders of giants; and I’m humbled and grateful.