Summary

A new book, Ricardo’s Dream by Nat Dyer, reveals that Sir Isaac Newton’s wealth was closely tied to the transatlantic slave trade during his tenure as master of the mint at the Bank of England.

Newton profited from gold mined by enslaved Africans in Brazil, much of which was converted into British currency under his oversight, earning him a fee for each coin minted.

While Newton’s scientific legacy remains untarnished, the book highlights his financial entanglement with slavery, a common thread among Britain’s banking and finance elites of the era.

  • MrNesser@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    I’m not denying it I’m simply tired of the inevitable outcome that this brings

    1. Remove the statues
    2. Better not teach his theories in schools
    3. Someone HAS to apologise
    4. What about recompense in the form of money

    It’s a long fucking list and the guys been dead for a couple hundred years.

    • Fish [Indiana]@midwest.social
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      3 hours ago

      Watson and Crick are/were giant pieces of shit. We still teach about them. Many biology teachers will openly state that Watson is a terrible person

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      6 hours ago

      Not excusing the past, OR the present, but people a few centuries from now will call us monsters.