Standing On The Shoulders of Giants - Contemporary References

Contemporary References

• The British two pound coin bears the inscription on its edge; this is intended as a quotation of Newton.
• Google Scholar has adopted "Stand on the shoulders of giants" as its motto.
• In Umberto Eco's novel, The Name of the Rose, William of Baskerville utters the words when speaking to Nicholas of Morimondo, the master glazier at the monastery. Nicholas says about his art: "We no longer have the learning of the ancients, the age of giants is past!", to which William replies: "We are dwarfs, but dwarfs who stand on the shoulders of those giants, and small though we are, we sometimes manage to see farther on the horizon than they".
• Linux Mint installation slideshow has a slide titled "Standing on the shoulder of giants" meaning Ubuntu, Debian and GNU.
• It is referenced by Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, in the 2010 film The Social Network.
• The fourth studio album from British rock band Oasis is titled "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants". Songwriter Noel Gallagher chose the name after reading it printed on the edge a £2 coin; he scribbled the phrase down but spelled it incorrectly with the word 'Shoulder' rather than 'Shoulders' as he was inebriated at the time.
• In Jurassic Park, Dr. Ian Malcolm argues that John Hammond's research and advancement in the field of genetics was based on the work of those before him, limiting his responsibility in whatever happens, stating: "You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could..."
• The X-Files episode "Roland" features a scientist murdering his former colleagues from beyond the grave for taking credit for his research. At the final confrontation, the thieving scientist remarks "If I have seen further than other men it's because I have stood on the shoulders of giants."
• Stephen Hawking's compilation of works by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Einstein is entitled On The Shoulders of Giants. The Great Works of Physics and Astronomy, (Running Press 2002) ISBN 0-7624-1698-X.
• The American rock band R.E.M. uses the phrase "Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold" in the song "King of Birds" from their fifth studio album Document.
• The American jazz and rock drummer Steve Smith wrote and produced an educational video package titled Drum Legacy - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants that traces the development of modern drumming from the concepts and techniques of earlier generations of musicians.
• In the short film documentary series, Everything is a remix, made by Kirby Ferguson, Newton's formulation is referred to, and likewise the fact that Newton himself adapted the quote from an older version, thus illustrating the principle itself.
• On Giant's Shoulders, a 1979 BBC television film about the early life of thalidomide victim Terry Wiles.