Sir Isaac Newton
Scientist
Date Of Birth:
4 January 1643
Date Of Death:
20 March 1727
bladder stone
Place Of Birth:
Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England
Best Known As:
The genius who explained gravity
Sir Isaac Newton's discoveries were so numerous and varied that many call him the father of modern science. A 1665 graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, Isaac Newton developed as a young man an intense interest in mathematics and the laws of nature. This ultimately led to his two most famous works: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) and Opticks (1704). In these works and over his career, Newton helped define the laws of gravity and planetary motion, co-founded the field of calculus, and explained laws of light and color, among many other discoveries. A famous story says that Isaac Newton uncovered the laws of gravity after being hit on the head by a falling apple. There is no proof that this story is true. However, his assistant John Conduitt later wrote that Newton had said he was inspired to think about gravity after seeing an apple fall in his garden around 1666. Isaac Newton was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705. Upon his death in 1727, he became the first scientist given the honor of burial in Westminster Abbey.
Extra Credit
Sir Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day in 1642; however, with the calendar changes of the 19th century, that date became January 4, 1643. The January 4th date is commonly used today… Isaac Newton is often ranked 1-2 with Albert Einstein among history’s leading physicists… Isaac Newton held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge — a post later held by Stephen Hawking… Isaac Newton was good friends with astronomer Edmond Halley, of Halley’s Comet fame… Isaac Newton was born just about one year after the death of Galileo… Isaac Newton never married and had no known children.
Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.
