Hi,
I guess that Newton thought at first of identifying the microscopic states with the unordered, instead of ordered strings, of the quantum numbers associated with the constituents of the event horizon of the black hole. That would have taken him to the partitions of integers. Indeed, such choice would have been justified on grounds of possible symmetries between the quantum states of the constituents of the horizon: If constituent 1 is in a quantum state identified by a quantum number n1, and constituent 2 in a state identified by a quantum number n2, the state should, according to this view, be the same as the one where the constituent 1 is in a state n2 and constituent 2 in a state n1. In other words, the constituents are, like bosons in quantum mechanics, indistinguishable.
However, it seems that there are no reasons for such symmetries. The symmetry properties of many-particle states in quantum mechanics follow from the spin-statistics theorem which, in turn, follows from the symmetries of flat spacetime. In the Planck scale of distances there are no such symmetries.
I think that there are some grounds to believe that Newton was, at least in his private relations, more congenial than it is usually thought. For instance, the well-known story that Newton laughed only once in his life, was known already during his life time. However, one of his contemporaries, when he was told this story, said that he had seen Newton laughing several times, and it was easy to make him smile. (See Gleick's book)
One of the best reasons for thinking that Newton was far from an inhuman monster is that his niece Catherine Barton, who was one of the most admired women of the London of her time, and known both for her beauty and wit, worked as Newton's house-keeper for a pretty long time. Several years later, after getting married, Ms. Barton, her husband and her little daughter lived together with Newton. I do not think such arrangements would have been possible, if Newton had been an entirely unbearable person.
Best,
Jarmo