On the Shoulders of Giants
How One Metaphor Explains the Progress of Science
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
Imagine a world where every generation had to rediscover fire, reinvent the wheel, and relearn the laws of the universe. Human progress would grind to a halt. Instead, our knowledge advances because each discovery builds upon the work that came before it. This simple but profound truth is captured in one of science's most enduring metaphors: "Standing on the shoulders of giants."
From its origins in the halls of 12th-century cathedrals to its use by modern tech giants, this phrase reveals a fundamental principle of how knowledge grows. It is the reason a student today can understand more about the cosmos than Newton himself ever did. This article explores the journey of this powerful idea and how recognizing our intellectual debt to the past is what ultimately allows us to see into the future.
The Ancient Metaphor: Dwarfs on the Shoulders of Giants
Long before Isaac Newton penned his famous letter, the concept of building on past knowledge was already centuries old. The earliest documented attestation appears in 1159 when John of Salisbury quoted his teacher, Bernard of Chartres1 :
"Bernard of Chartres used to compare us to dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants. He pointed out that we see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature."1
Chartres Cathedral in France, home to stained glass windows depicting prophets carrying evangelists on their shoulders.
This vivid image perfectly captures the paradox of knowledge: we, the moderns, may be intellectually smaller than the great minds of the past, but by leveraging their foundational work, our perspective can be far greater.
A beautiful visual representation of this idea can be found in the stained glass of Chartres Cathedral in France. The tall windows show the four major prophets of the Hebrew Bible as gigantic figures, with the four New Testament evangelists sitting on their shoulders. The evangelists, though smaller in stature, "see more" because they witnessed the Messiah about whom the prophets had spoken1 .
Newton's Famous Quip: A Possible Jab at a Rival
1675
Isaac Newton writes his famous letter to rival Robert Hooke containing the line: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the sholders of Giants."3
Interpretation
Some modern interpreters suggest this was a deliberate and sarcastic jab at Hooke's physical stature1 . Whether it was a genuine acknowledgment or a veiled insult, Newton's use of the phrase ensured its immortality.
Newton's Reflection
"I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore... whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
The Giant's View: How Collaboration Fuels Modern Discovery
In the 21st century, the metaphor has evolved. While science still has its giants—think of figures like Einstein, Curie, or Hawking—modern discovery is increasingly a team effort. Instead of standing on the shoulders of a single giant, today's researchers are more like participants in a massive, global crowd-surfing event6 .
A 2017 study in the Journal of Informetrics put this idea to the test. Researchers analyzed a massive dataset of 1.7 million computer science publications to see if collaborating with established, highly-cited researchers (the "giants") actually boosted a scholar's career7 .
Research Findings: The Impact of Collaborating with "Giants"
| Career Stage | Number of Authors Analyzed | Key Finding on Collaboration |
|---|---|---|
| Early-Career | 1,712,433 | Co-authoring with an "Authority Author" (h-index ≥ 40) significantly increased an early-career researcher's likelihood of becoming a "Rising Star."7 |
| Rising Stars | 14,405 | Over 50% of "Rising Stars" had previously collaborated with at least one established "Authority Author."7 |
| Authority Authors | 35 | These top-tier researchers (h-index ≥ 40) served as key hubs, elevating the work and visibility of their collaborators.7 |
The "Soaring Effect"
The study concluded that these collaborations provide a powerful "soaring effect"7 . Junior researchers gain credibility, access to new networks, and learn the unwritten rules of high-level research. This demonstrates that the "shoulders of giants" principle is not just a philosophical idea but a demonstrable factor in scientific success.
The Scientist's Toolkit: Essentials for Building on Knowledge
How does the scientific community ensure it's standing on the sturdy shoulders of giants and not on the wobbly footing of dwarfs? The process relies on a toolkit of practices and materials designed to validate and communicate findings.
Key Components of the Research Ecosystem
Peer Review
Before research is published, other experts in the field scrutinize its methods and conclusions. This acts as a quality control check, ensuring new work is a solid brick in the wall of knowledge4 .
Citations and References
The humble footnote is the practical application of the "giants" metaphor. By citing sources, researchers explicitly build a staircase from their new work back to the old work that made it possible6 .
Reproducibility
A single experiment is not enough. For a finding to become accepted knowledge, other scientists must be able to repeat the methodology and achieve the same results4 .
Theoretical Frameworks
Individual facts are like scattered bricks; theories are the architecture that organizes them into a coherent structure. Theories like evolution or plate tectonics connect countless disparate findings4 .
A Giant's Legacy: From Quantum Dreams to Reality
Quantum Innovation
Modern quantum computing builds upon decades of theoretical physics research.
The enduring power of this metaphor is alive today in fields like quantum computing. Wolfgang Lechner, a scientist and entrepreneur, writes how his work at ParityQC is a direct result of standing on the shoulders of Austrian quantum physics giants like Anton Zeilinger and Peter Zoller2 .
"At ParityQC, we are proud to be carrying this scientific heritage into a new era... We see ourselves as 'standing on the shoulders of giants': our company was founded as a spin-off from the University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, with deep connections to the research community."
This direct lineage from foundational theoretical research to applied technological innovation shows how the giants of one generation enable the revolutions of the next.
Conclusion: The Collective Journey of Knowledge
The story of "standing on the shoulders of giants" is more than a historical curiosity; it is a fundamental truth about the structure of scientific progress. From Newton's optics to today's quantum computers, every leap forward has depended on the accumulated wisdom of the past.
The Collective Human Journey
This metaphor also carries a humbling lesson. As Newton himself reflected later in life, the greatest minds recognize that their contributions, however brilliant, are just one part of a much larger, collective human journey toward understanding.
We are all dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, and it is from that privileged vantage point that we can all see a little further.