Newton pierced his left eye, underneath his eye ball with a blunt needle. He had read Boyle's Experiments and Considerations Touching Colors and wanted to check how the instrument with which one observes colors, work. In this case, the human eye.
He asked his master,Daniel (Newton was supposed to be Daniel's sizar) to hold an image at different distances from his eye. He made and noted down observations with one hand as he moved the needle up and down with his other, distorting the shape of the perfectly spherical eye ball. The experiments were carried out all through the night. By dawn, Newton had been the one who knew more about the human eye than anyone else in the world.
An astronomer who did not understand his lenses would be a poor philosopher indeed. Am sure this applies to all those who are inventing something or embarking on some field of research.
For a more enriching experience, go read the book. There are more such interesting incidents.
Will try post some of the good ones.
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