Smart people betting who is the smartest in 17th century coffee houses.

[TastingHistory]

The comet returns in 2061, not 2065. I read my notes wrong. 😢

[ThiccJesusGaming]

“An architect, an astronomer, and a physicist walk into a coffee house”
Sounds like the start of a good joke.

[thomaswalsh]

You left out the best part

It wasn’t that Newton could prove it, it’s that he already had. He had already written out a proof years before, but just hadn’t told anyone about it yet. His response was the 17th century equivalent of “oh yeah, that? I already did, lemme just find the paper”. And then it took him another few months to bother finding it.

[Der.Soldat]

I highly recommend the book "Newton and the Counterfeiter" if stories like this interest you (this particular one was mentioned). It covers Newton's life from university to when he worked as warden of the Royal Mint to stop a notorious counterfeiter!

[matthewchapman]

I love this. I'm a coffee freak, and I get excited when talking about important matters over a good brew.

[AmunRa]

Damn, I bet hearing people like that talk would be utterly fascinating. Now when I go to coffee shops the most I might hear is dating drama or something.

[TCG]

1. I love how the card countin scene from Hangover was used for this

2. What a small world to have so many monumental geniuses not only in one room but in the same time frame

[jerryrichardson]

The sociologist Lewis S Feuer argued that coffee contributed to the Scientific Revolution by replacing alcohol, people were sharper and could work longer hours. I would argue that coffee and tea made a material contribution to the Protestant Work Ethic of Max Weber. It probably contributed to the Lunar Society in England which met on the full moon as well, they called themselves "lunatics".

[franzfanz]

Shout out to Robert Hooke, though. He was a straight up genius and doesn't really get the credit he's due.

[GNZOU]

Hooke was also an architect, he designed the church a few miles from my house. Wren gets more limelight in the architect area of his work because of the cathedral and a few other high profile buildings.

Hooke also was one of the two men credited with inventing the balance spring which modern mechanical watches are based on, perfect for creating accurate ship board clocks for navigation that didn't need a pendulum.

[TheGyroBarqusShow]

I always find it important for Artists and Intellectuals to find friends like them so they can really make anything of value in the world

[TheBaBaTV]

The beautiful architecture and art cathedrals, churches were built back then were just mind blowing! The amount of effort put in, can’t even imagine today anyone building them even though we can with our better technology!

[Admiralofthedeeps]

I wrote a paper for my undergraduate on the duel in eighteenth century Ireland a few years back. Not only were the coffee houses places where ideas were shared, but they were also places people had enormous disagreements and would take those disagreements out the back where they would proceed to either stab or shoot each other. Lucas' coffee house in Dublin was notorious for it.

[CD-cyxx]

I don't know if I'm more mesmerized by the historical content being shared or the eyes of this gentleman...

[nathanthomson]

Coffee houses were, indeed, crucial to the spread of Enlightenment ideas

[OrNaurItsKat]

Love that even in historical times discussions/debates kind of came down to "nuh uh" and "yes huh"

[diulikadikaday]

Avengers: “the most ambitious crossover ever!”
1685 scientists: “hold my mead”

[williamfrederick]

I don't care about seeing the Beatles live I just wanna go to a 18th century coffee house

[keeshonturner]

Thanks for educating me on so many true facts about history for even less than a penny🤯

[ultimatevtgb]

Ignoring whatever the hell these comments are, that is truly a real life crossover.