Sir Issac Newton Biography
Sir
Issac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician. He was born on
December 25, 1642 Woolsthorpe in south western Lincolnshire, England. Newton
was the only son of his parents. His father was also Issac Newton and
mother was Hannah Ayscough. His father died before his birth. When Newton was 2
years old, his mother married a second time and left Newton in the care of his
grandmother. Until the death of his stepfather (1653) Issac was separated from
his mother.
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| Sir Issac Newton |
Newton
started his education in a local school. When he was 12, he was sent to the
King’s School in Grantham. In 1661, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. He
got his bachelor’s degree in 1665. He started doing his master’s degree. But an
epidemic of plague caused the university to close. He then returned at
Woolsthorpe in 1666. He stayed there for 18 months. During this period, he
performed the basic experiments and did his fundamental thinking for all his
subsequent work on gravitation and optics. At the same time he developed for
his own use, his system of calculus. He returned in Cambridge in 1667. Then
Newton started completing his master’s degree. His mathematics professor Issac
Barrow first recognized his unusual ability. Barrow resigned to devote himself
to theology in 1669 and recommended Newton as his successor. Newton was
selected as the Lucasian professor of mathematics and stayed at Trinity for 27
years.
Newton
was very much inspired by the Italian scientist Galileo. It is a coincidence
that Galileo had died the year Newton was born. Newton picked up Galileo’s idea
of a mathematical science of motion and brought his work to full fruition.
Galileo’s results were the starting point for Newton’s investigations. Newton
gave many a new and original ideas. He made a number of scientific discoveries
of fundamental importance.
Issac
Newton enunciated (stated in definite terms) the basic Laws of Motion. He
discovered the Universal Law of Gravitation and explained Kepler’s Laws of
Planetary Motion. He also invented a Reflector Telescope that made it easier to
study the heavenly bodies. Newton also invented the prism.
Newton
is best known for his work on gravitation ad mechanics. The theory of
gravitation pull of the earth was a matter of chance. One day his was sitting
on the bench of his garden. He saw an apple fall from a tree. It is one of the
most famous legends of science. Newton proposed that all bodies attract each
other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses
and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. He
called this force ‘gravity’ and applied his theory to explain the motion of the
moon around the earth. He proposed three Laws of Motion which form the basis of
the science of mechanics. His first law of Motion is a reformulation of
Galileo’s Law of Inertia. These laws were explained for the first time in his
book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica –commonly known as
‘Principia’.
Newton
also made basic contributions to the study of light. He explained and showed
that ordinary white light was a combination of different colours. He discovered
Differential Calculus and got the title of ‘sir’. He was the first scientist to
get this honour. He was elected the fellow of The Royal Society of London. He
also became its life President.
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Issac’s
discovery of the composition of white light integrated the phenomena of colours
into the science of light and laid the foundation for modern physical optics.
His three laws of motion resulted in the formulation of the law of universal
gravitation. He was the original discoverer of the infinitesimal calculus.
Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles
of Natural Philosophy) was published in 1687. It is one of the most important
works in the history of modern science.
Newton
also devoted to chronology and theology. In 1725, a shortened form of his
Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms was published. In it, he tried to correlate
Egyptian, Green and Hebrew history and mythology. It was the first time
astronomical references were used in ancient texts to establish dates of
various events of history. In his Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel
and the Apocalypse of St. John, published posthumously. Issac’s aim was to show
that the prophecies of the Old and New Testament had so far been fulfilled.
Newton
had a keen interest of alchemy which was evolving into chemistry. His
Chronology and Prophecy and also his alchemical work, were parts of a larger
design. Cosmology, history and theology in a single synthesis would be embraced
by that larger design.
Newton
was a great scientist. He had tremendous powers of concentration. He had the
ability to stand long periods of intense mental exertion and objectivity. Issac
prepared the way for the age of technology effectively.
He
died on March 20, 1727 in London.
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