Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton was a man who revolutionized the science and arithmetic world. From the publishing of ‘Principia’ to the discoveries of infinite series, Isaac Newton used his creative intuition to progress the scholastic world.

Isaac Newton was born on January 4th, 1643 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. Although he was born into a farming family, he did not grow up much on the farm. This was because his father died before he was born and his mother sent him to his grandmother’s so that she could remarry. Isaac attended the King’s School in Grantham while he was with his grandmother. Here, he became intrigued with chemistry because he lived at a apothecary. However at the age of twelve, Newton returned to his mother because his mother needed him to work on the farm. He was so bad at farming that he was sent back to school to finish his basic education.

After finishing his basic education, his uncle convinced his mother to allow him to enroll Trinity College in Cambridge 1661. At Trinity College, Newton went through a work-study program to help pay for his tuition. He cleaned wealthier students’ rooms and cleaned tables. This work, however, did not impede his studies in college. He became interested in advanced sciences and read the works of modern philosophers. Throughout his time at Trinity College, Newton compiled notes to create the “Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae", which translates to “Certain Philosophical Questions”. In these notes, he explored the many ideas including the scientific method that drove the Scientific Revolution. Newton graduated as average student with no awards, however these notes gave him the opportunity to further his education with scholarships. Furthermore, he earned the title of scholar.

In 1965, Trinity College had to shut down due to the Bubonic Plague. This forced Isaac Newton to return home to continue his studies there. For the following two years, Newton exploded with innovative ideas for science and math. These ideas would affect these areas of study forever.

The apple myth, which is a myth on how he became inspired to think of the idea of gravity, states that he was under a tree in his hometown while he thought about how gravity works. The inspiration for the idea of gravity stemmed from an apple falling on his head. He was amazed how the apple fell in a straight line, instead of falling at an angle. Through this inspiration, Newton dove deeper into how motion worked in the world. For the next 20 years, Newton sought to find the explanation of motion and gravity. Although when he returned back to Trinity college in Cambridge in 1667 he was not considered as an elite scholar, he was about to become one.

In 1669, Newton received his Master of Arts degree from Trinity College. After receiving this degree, he published a small piece of work called De Analysi. This work of his went further into new infinite series. This impressed fellow mentor and friend Isaac Barrow, who then showed his colleague John Collins. John was a mathematician and was highly impressed with Newton’s work. John was so impressed that he spread Newton’s work within the mathematics community. Because of his advancements in arithmetic, Newton assumed Barrow’s Lucasian professorship.

Newton entered the Royal Academy to further his studies. In the academy, some people accepted his theories while some did not. Robert Hooke was a person who strongly disagreed about Newton’s theories for optics. Newton believed that light traveled through particles, while Hooke believed light traveled as a wave. After a while, this grew into a complete rivalry. Hooke denied that Newton’s work was not revolutionary at all. Any chance he had, Hooke tried to discredit Newton. This led to Newton to rage against the Royal Academy and Hooke. Newton even threatened to leave the Royal Academy due to Hooke’s annoying comments. This led Newton to have a nervous break down in 1678.

For the following six years, Newton spent his time in isolation from the academic community. He studied gravity and how it affected planets during this time. This study of gravity allowed him to further his idea of motion. As he studied how motion worked, Newton created the theories of motion, which then helped him to create the theory of gravity. His theories of motion consisted of the Three Laws of Motion: 1. Every object in a state of uniform