Voltaire’s extravagant praise of Locke (“never, perhaps, has a wiser, more methodical mind existed than Mr Locke”) pales in comparison with his praise of Newton. Here was a genius, Voltaire wrote, “the like of which has scarcely appeared in ten centuries.”27 Isaac Newton had demonstrated to Voltaire’s satisfaction that human reason alone can discover the true inner workings of nature and the universe. Indeed, the human mind could achieve almost any goal it set for itself, as long as it remained grounded in experience and truth.
