The celebrated English scientist Sir Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643, in a small village in England named Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth. Newton later on became one of the most celebrated English scientists. He was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution. Born in the village of Woolsthorpe, Newton was the only child of a local farmer, also named Isaac Newton, who had passed away three months earlier, and of Hannah Ayscough. Just about a year earlier, at Arcetri near Florence, the renowned physicist, Galileo Galilei, had passed away. Newton would later build on his concept of the mathematical study of motion and develop it to its greatest potential.
Which School Did Sir Isaac Newton Attend?
At school, Isaac Newton developed a strong grasp of the Latin language. However, he, like other learners, likely learned only the basics of arithmetic. He went on to join Trinity College, Cambridge in June 1661. As he joined the university, the intellectual movement now called the Scientific Revolution was already in full swing and many of the foundational works of modern science had been published. Astronomers such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler, for example, had expanded on the heliocentric model of the universe. Additionally, scientists such as Galileo had laid the groundwork for a new understanding of mechanics based on the idea of inertia. Guided by thinkers like René Descartes, philosophers had started to develop a fresh view of nature as a complex inert machine.
What Was Sir Isaac Newton’s First Invention?
In 1665, Cambridge University temporarily shut down due to an outbreak of the bubonic plague, forcing Newton to return home to Lincolnshire for two years. It was during this time that he came up with his now famous apple-falling analogy, which sparked a breakthrough. While he seemed to thrive in solitary study, Newton eventually went back to Cambridge in 1667. There, he worked as a mathematics professor and held other important roles until 1696.
That said, Isaac Newton’s 1687 theory of gravity was accepted as scientific fact for over two hundred years until Albert Einstein introduced his General Theory of Relativity. In his theory, Newton described gravity as a force that acts instantly across any distance, creating an attraction between any two objects in the universe. Even today, this is the most widely understood explanation of gravity.
Newton also came up with the mathematical formula that enabled mathematicians to calculate the gravitational pull between two objects.
What Are Newton’s Laws of Motion?
In 1687, Isaac Newton outlined three main laws of motion in his book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy).The first of Newton’s Laws of motion states that a moving object will keep moving unless an outside force interferes with it. Also, if the object is still, it will stay still unless a force changes that. This rule is also called the law of inertia.
The second of Newton’s Laws of motion indicates that when a force is exerted on an object, it will cause the object to speed up. The acceleration will be directly proportional to the force acting on the object. The rule also says the greater the mass of the object, the more the force required to cause it to accelerate.
The third of Newton’s Laws of motion states that every force exerted causes an equal and opposite force that is of the same magnitude. This means if you press on an object, there will be an opposing force of the same magnitude.
When Did Isaac Newton Develop the First Practical Reflecting Telescope?
In the 18th century, astronomers typically used long refracting telescopes that featured a carefully formed glass lens. However, in 1668, Isaac Newton created the first practical reflecting telescope. Instead of a lens, it used a single curved main mirror together with a second diagonal mirror to reflect light back to the eyepiece. Over the next couple of centuries, bigger telescopes that derived from Newton’s design proved to be especially helpful for viewing very faint celestial bodies such as nebulae. Utilizing his concept as well as bigger instruments led to fundamental shifts in the understanding of the universe.
What Is Isaac Newton’s Particle Theory of Light?
Among the most prominent supporters of the particle theory of light was Isaac Newton. Newton’s detailed studies into the characteristics of light in the 1660s resulted in his discovery that white light was made up of a mix of colors. He struggled with an explanation to dissect the essence of light, eventually stating in Opticks (1704) that light is composed of a stream of particles. He also suggested that different shades of light had marginally different masses that travelled at varying speeds in transparent materials and thus had varied angles of refraction. Today, it is generally accepted that light has wave-particle duality.
