Happy Birthday Isaac Newton

Paul's picture
5
2010

Isaac NewtonToday (well, actually 04 January 1643) is the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton, one of England's most accomplished and influential scientists.  You can read all about his life, discoveries and exploits here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton

...but I like to remember him through a little verse that was part of a health & safety advertisement which aired on ITV during the 1970s...

 

Sir Isaac Newton told us why an apple falls down from the sky
And from this fact, it's very plain, all other objects do the same
A brick, a bolt, a bar, a cup, invariably fall down, not up
And every common working tool is governed by the self-same rule
So when you handle tools up there, let your watchwords be "Take Care"
If at work, you drop a spanner, it travels in a downward manner
At work, a fifth of accidents or more, illustrate old Newton's law
But one thing he forgot to add, the damage won't be half as bad
if you are wearing proper clothes, especially on your head and toes
These hats and shoes are there to save the wearer from an early grave
So best foot forward and take care about the kind of shoes you wear
It's better to be sure, than dead, so get a hat and keep your head
Don't think to go without is brave; the effects of gravity can be grave...

 

 

Spiderman's picture
Was that from memory?

Nice one Paul. Did you post the words to that advert from memory, or did you manage to find them on the internet?

Actually, I loved those old public information adverts from the 70's, maybe the administrator could start a new section on it and bring back some great memories.

Paul's picture
Bit of both...

Hi, Spidey, It was actually a bit of both; I'd memorized it as a kid and had remembered enough to enable me to search quite precisely. Believe-it-or-not someone had posted a request for the verse and it was reconstructed from a number of responses.

 

I don't know why that one in particular stuck in my mind so well; I guess because it was a verse.  There was another H&S public information advert which started with a snappy newcaster voice saying "A man badly injured; baggy pullover sleeve caught in a lathe".  I've searched for that and haven't turned anything up as yet...

 

I did find this site, which has the 'Isaac Newton' verse and a whole lot of other stuff...

 

http://www.headington.org.uk/adverts/pifs/index.htm

 

I'm sure some of your old favourites will be there...

Galen's picture
Public information

Howdy friends

 

My favourite was, and my memory is a little hazy, a fellow sympathetic ape (with an Australian accent) in a swimming pool saying "kids in wadder, thay lav it. Rivers, canals...even the lily pond in the gaaaaden etc". It ended with a bunch of kids setting upon the poor creature all shouting "get him".

 

Also recall another water based advert featuring a spooky hooded ghoul in a black cloak lurking around the waterside...yikes!