The mathematician and physicist, Sir Isaac Newton, hardly needs an introduction. Famed in popular science for “discovering gravity”, Albert Einstein remarked, “Newton was the first to frame a comprehensive model of the universe which, though it has since been modified, remains the foundation of modern science”.
Sir Isaac Newton was born on Christmas day 1642 in Lincolnshire, England. Partly raised by his grandmother following his mother’s re-marriage, he attended the King’s School in Grantham, where he demonstrated remarkable skills in mathematics and an interest in practical experiments. His interest in mathematics, astronomy and natural philosophy was carried through to university at Cambridge where, despite entering Trinity College to study the classical curriculum, he found his true passion lay with the sciences.
From around 1661, Newton began to formulate his most significant contributions towards the fields of science and mathematics. Almost simultaneously with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, he pioneered calculus, calling it the “method of fluxions”. He studied the laws of motion, universal gravitation and optics, discovering that white light is composed of a spectrum of colours. By 1669, Newton had become a Cambridge professor of mathematics.
Sir Isaac Newton’s landmark work was surely his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica – often referred to simply as “The Principia”. Published in 1687, the work laid out Newton’s three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. In 1704, he published his Opticks, introducing the particle theory of light.
Somewhat of a polymath, Sir Isaac Newton become warden, then master, of the Royal Mint, reforming the nation’s currency. He acted as president of the Royal Society from 1703 until his death, alongside engaging in studies of the occult, such as alchemy. Newton died on the 20 March 1727 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
