Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Isaac Newton , PRS, (4 January 1643 - 31 March 1727) [OS: 25 December 1642 - 20 March 1727] was an English
mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, chemist, inventor, and natural philosopher who is generally
regarded as one of the most influential scientists and mathematicians in history..

Newton wrote the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in which he described universal gravitation and the
three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics. By deriving Kepler's laws of planetary
motion from this system, he was the first to show that the motion of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies
are governed by the same set of natural laws. The unifying and deterministic power of his laws was integral
to the scientific revolution and the advancement of heliocentrism.

Among other scientific discoveries, Newton realized that the spectrum of colours observed when white light
passes through a prism is inherent in the white light and not added by the prism (as Roger Bacon had
claimed in the 13th century), and notably argued that light is composed of particles. He also developed a law
of cooling, describing the rate of cooling of objects when exposed to air. He enunciated the principles of
conservation of momentum and angular momentum. Finally, he studied the speed of sound in air, and
voiced a theory of the origin of stars. Despite this renown in mainstream science, Newton spent more time
working on either alchemy or chemistry, than physics.

Newton played a major role in the history of calculus, sharing credit with Gottfried Leibniz. He also made
contributions to other areas of mathematics, for example the generalized binomial theorem. The
mathematician and mathematical physicist Joseph Louis Lagrange, said that "Newton was the greatest
genius that ever existed and the most fortunate, for we cannot find more than once a system of the world to
establish."

Page 1 of 6
 Isaac Newton

Contents

1. Biography

1.1 Early years

1.2 Middle years

1.2.1 Mathematical research

1.2.3 Optics

1.2.3 Gravity and motion

1.3 Later life

2. Newton's Three Laws of Motion

3. See also

Page 2 of 6
 Isaac Newton

1. Biography
1.1 Early years
Newton was born in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth (at Woolsthorpe Manor), a hamlet in the county of
Lincolnshire. Newton was born prematurely, and no one expected him to live; indeed, his mother, Hannah
Ayscough Newton, is reported to have said that his body at that time could have fit inside a quart mug (Bell,
1937). His father, Isaac, had died three months before Newton's birth. When Newton was two, his mother
went to live with her new husband, leaving her son in the care of his grandmother.

According to E.T. Bell (1937, Simon and Schuster) and H. Eves:

Newton began his schooling in the village schools and was later sent to The Kings Grammar School
(Grantham) where he became the top boy in the school. At Kings he lodged with the local apothecary,
William Clarke and eventually became engaged to the apothecary's stepdaughter, Anne Storer, before he
went off to Cambridge University at the age of 19. As Newton became engrossed in his studies, the
romance cooled and Miss Storer married someone else. It is said he kept a warm memory of this love, but
Newton had no other recorded 'sweethearts' and never married.

However, William Stukeley and Mrs Vincent, the source which Bell and Eves have embroidered so
unhelpfully, merely say that Newton entertained 'a passion' for her while he lodged at the Clarke house. Mrs
Vincent's maiden name was Katherine Storer, not Anne.

From the age of about twelve until he was seventeen, Newton was
educated at The King's School in Grantham (where his signature can still
be seen upon a library window sill). He was removed from school and by
Oct 1659 he was to be found at Woolsthorpe where his mother attempted
to make a farmer of him. He was, by later reports of his contemporaries,
thoroughly unhappy with the work. It appears to be Henry Stokes, master
at the King's School, who persuaded his mother to send him back to
school so that he might complete his education. This he did at the age of
eighteen, achieving an admirable final report. His teacher said:

His genius now begins to mount upwards apace and shine out with more
strength. He excels particularly in making verses. In everything he
undertakes, he discovers an application equal to the pregnancy of his
parts and exceeds even the most sanguine expectations I have conceived
of him.

In June 1661 he matriculated to Trinity College, Cambridge. At that time,

the college's teachings were based on those of Aristotle, but Newton preferred to read the more advanced
ideas of modern philosophers such as Descartes and astronomers such as Galileo, Copernicus and Kepler.
In 1665 he discovered the generalized binomial theorem and began to develop a mathematical theory that
would later become calculus. Soon after Newton had obtained his degree in 1665, the University closed
down as a precaution against the Great Plague. For the next 18 months Newton worked at home on
calculus, optics and law of gravitation. Newton was a strange character, often not sharing information he
had discovered unless he was asked. Calculus for example, was something he had invented 30 years
before he had told anyone else about it.

Page 3 of 6
 Isaac Newton

1.2 Middle years

Mathematical research
Newton became a fellow of Trinity College in 1669. In the same year he circulated his findings in De Analysi
per Aequationes Numeri Terminorum Infinitas (On Analysis by Infinite Series) , and later inDe methodis
serierum et fluxionum (On the Methods of Series and Fluxions), whose title gave rise to the "method of
fluxions".
Optics
From 1670 to 1672 he lectured on optics . During this period he investigated the refraction of light,
demonstrating that a prism could decompose white light into a spectrum of colours, and that a lens and a
second prism could recompose the multicoloured spectrum into white light. He also showed that the
coloured light does not change its properties, by separating out a coloured beam and shining it on various
objects. Newton noted that regardless of whether it was reflected or scattered or transmitted, it stayed the
same colour. Thus the colours we observe are the result of how objects interact with the incident already-
coloured light, not the result of objects generating the colour. For more details, see Newton's theory of
colour. Many of his findings in this field were criticized by later theorists, the most well-known being Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe, who postulated his own colour theories.
Gravity and motion
In 1679, Newton returned to his work on mechanics, i.e., gravitation and its effect on
the orbits of planets, with reference to Kepler's laws of motion, and consulting with
Hooke and Flamsteed on the subject. He published his results in De Motu Corporum
(1684). This contained the beginnings of the laws of motion that would inform the
Principia.

The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (now known as the Principia) was published on 5 July
16871 with encouragement and financial help from Edmond Halley. In this work Newton stated the three
universal laws of motion that were not to be improved upon for more than two hundred years. He used the
Latin word gravitas (weight) for the force that would become known as gravity, and defined the law of
universal gravitation. In the same work he presented the first analytical determination, based on Boyle's law,
of the speed of sound in air.

With the Principia, Newton became internationally recognised. He acquired a circle of admirers, including
the Swiss-born mathematician Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, with whom he formed an intense relationship that
lasted until 1693. The end of this friendship led Newton to a nervous breakdown.

Page 4 of 6
 Isaac Newton

1.3 Later life

In the 1690s Newton wrote a number of religious tracts dealing with the literal interpretation of the Bible.
Henry More's belief in the infinity of the universe and rejection of Cartesian dualism may have influenced
Newton's religious ideas. A manuscript he sent to John Locke in which he disputed the existence of the
Trinity was never published. Later works -- The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728) and
Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John (1733) -- were published after
his death. He also devoted a great deal of time to alchemy.

2. Newton's Three Laws of Motion

The famous three laws of Newton are:

Newton's First Law (also known as the Law of Inertia) states that an object at
rest tends to stay at rest and that an object in motion tends to stay in motion
unless acted upon by a net external force.

Newton's Second Law states that an applied force equals the rate of change of
momentum. For constant mass: F=ma, or force equals mass times acceleration.
In other words, the acceleration produced by a net force on an object is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the net force and inversely proportional to the
mass. In the MKS system of measurement, mass is given in kilograms,
acceleration in meters per second squared, and force in newtons (named in his
honor).

Newton's Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction.

Page 5 of 6
 Isaac Newton

3. See also

* History of calculus
* Newton v. Leibniz calculus controversy
* "Standing on the shoulders of giants"
* Newton-Cotes formulas

Page 6 of 6