Isaac

Newton
Mr. Shepp Hour 8

Rudy Rice
 Newton was perhaps one of the greatest scientists of all time. He made some of the greatest

advances in mathematics and astronomy ever; in fact, there was a period after his time in which little

new discoveries were made. His childhood was troubling but he quickly moved onto becoming a great

scientist, going to a university, and making huge advances in math, physics, astronomy, and chemistry.

Newton was born on Christmas day, 1642, prematurely. He never knew his father as he had

died. He was said to be as small as to be able to fit into a quartpot. At only age three Newton’s mother

sent him to live with his grandmother while she went to live with her second husband. Newton’s

grandparents were strict puritans, perhaps explaining Newton’s strong attachment to religion. Newton

strongly hated his stepfather and when his mother did finally return home after the death of her second

husband Newton was denied the love and attention of his mother yet still. Researchers speculate this

may contribute to the fact that he was very emotionally complex and was apt to attack both his friends

and enemies.

When Newton reached the age of eighty he began to suffer from incontinence due to problems

with his bladder. He also had several bladder stones that caused him great pain. His diet became

restricted and he began to only eat vegetables and broth. In 1725 Newton contracted gout and the

following year suffered hemorrhoids. On March 19, 1727 Newton blacked out, and never regained

consciousness. He died the next day in London. Newton’s funeral was attended by many great figures of

the time and his coffin was carried by noblemen.

After Newton moved in with his grandparents he was sent to the nearby King’s College. He

frequently made trips to visit his mother and eagerly read books from his step-father’s extensive library,

including the bible. Newton floundered early on in school and was thought to be dumb. But soon after

he took interest in the local apothecary Newton’s interest in his studies greatly increased. Newton

created many working models as a child including a fully functioning windmill. After his mother was
widowed for the second time he was pulled home to help run the farm and take care of his younger

siblings. His teacher saw Newton’s potential and begged for him to apply for Cambridge University. His

mother reluctantly agreed and Newton was soon accepted and left for college. Newton studied at

Cambridge intent on becoming a minister, yet he was perturbed by the fact that recent scientific

discoveries were being ignored. Newton graduated in 1665, the year before the Black Death swept

across England. Newton returned to his home where he continued his studies. Because of Newton’s

history at Cambridge he was able to attain a seat quite easily, which he kept for his whole life.

Once the University was reopened in 1667 Newton returned and applied to be a minor fellow of

Trinity, against all odds he was awarded the seat at a very young age. The next year, after he had

obtained his Master of Arts degree, he was moved to a major fellow position. In 1969 he succeeded

Isaac Barrow as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, before his twenty – seventh birthday. Because of his

newfound power he was able to organize and publish his first paper on the study of color. Not long after

his publication of the Principia, in 1689, Newton was elected to represent Cambridge in Parliament.

After a second nervous breakdown Newton, with the help of a fellow Cambridge member, was

appointed to be the position of Warden and then Master of the Mint. Newton found these jobs very

fitting and left Cambridge with no regrets. As president of the Royal Society Newton dominated the

world of science and had much to do with all of the Society’s actions until his death. But without these

high positions Newton would have had some trouble communicating his discoveries to the world.

Newton’s interest in mathematics can be said to have been founded early on when he quickly

read and mastered Descartes Géométrie. During Newton’s years of working at home while the plague

ravaged Europe Newton made many fundamental discoveries in Algebra and Geometry, he also basically

discovered the method of calculus. He discovered the binomial theorem, new ways to expand infinite

series, and basic calculus. His idea of ‘direct and inverse method of fluxions’ is basically a mathematical
way to calculate changing and flowing quantities. These discoveries were the beginnings of the

understanding of how the world can be calculated and understood with physics. Newton’s studies into

mathematics extended from 1664 to 1696. Newton’s predecessors had early ideas of what Newton

discovered, not only did Newton expand on what his predecessors but he created generalized and

rigorous methods. Newton not only made great discoveries in mathematics but also great advances in

physics.

Even though the myth of Newton and the apple may be true evidence exists that Newton was

not the one who originally came up with the idea that the Earth and the Moon attracted each other.

Newton devised experiments to attempt and find the mysterious force that constrained the moon to an

elliptical orbit, but his mathematics were too imprecise and he left the problem. In 1679 and early 1680

Hooke began correspondence with Newton regarding his hypothesis in Attempt to Prove the Motion of

the Earth. In these letters Hooke stated his hypothesis that the moon orbited the Earth with a tangential

motion acted upon by an attracting force, explaining the elliptical motion of the Moon. Though Hooke

came up with this amazing insight his skill in mathematics never paralleled Newton’s ability. Through

working together with Hooke as Newton once said “We build too many walls and not enough bridges”.

Halley visited Cambridge in 1684 and was delighted to see that Newton had already demonstrated the

relation between the Earth’s attraction and the Moon’s elliptical orbit. Halley himself helped pay for the

publication of Newton’s Principia. Because of Newton’s advances in physics he was also able to make

advances in in the way we are able to study astronomy.

Isaac Newton may not have discovered any new planets but he radically changed the way we

view them. Traditional telescopes used during Newton’s time period were lens powered, refracting

telescopes, meaning that they used a magnification lens to bend light and enhance the image. Newton

invented the reflecting telescope, a telescope that utilizes a mirror instead of a lens to magnify images.
The problem with a refracting telescope is the fact that the lens is bent at the edges, slowing down light

more in some areas than in others, creating a distorted image. Reflecting telescopes can also be built

much easier and much larger. Today we can make lenses that have to distortion but the weight of the

glass bends the lens. Newton claimed that he was the first to invent the reflecting telescope but in fact

an Italian monk and physicist named Niccolo Zucchi was the first man to invent it. The real genius of

Newton’s telescope was that it allowed him to view and study the heavens much easier, allowing him to

study gravity and prove the Universal Law of Gravitation.

After Newton had exhausted his research in physics and mathematics, and after a religious

struggle within Cambridge, Newton moved on to Chemistry and Alchemy. Newton’s main goal in this

field was to discover a connection between the spirits he believed in and chemistry. Newton believed

that spirits were at the center of the amazing chemical changes that could occur in the world. Newton

believed in a world where science and religion blended, and that God was at the center of the mess of

alchemy and life. Newton interpreted the bible and scripture believing that there were secrets long lost

hidden in the text. Though Newton wasn’t a very social kind of man he still published many famous

works of science.

Isaac Newton didn’t publish a large number of works as he wasn’t a very social person. His two

most revolutionary and well known works are the Principia and Opticks. The Principia was Newton’s

definitive paper on physics and gravity. It stated Newton’s three laws of motion and his Universal Law of

Gravitation. It is widely considered one of the most important scientific papers ever written, it radically

changed the way we view the world and understand physics. Newton’s other major paper, Opticks

outlined Newton’s studies on light and color. Newton described how he discovered that color was a

property of light, not matter. He also touched on the fact of light being diffracted as it passed through a

medium such as air.

 After Newton’s death an effect known as Newton’s Shadow occurred. Newton was known to be

such a great scientist that all scientists after him felt that they couldn’t live up to Newton. No one dared

to even check his math after his death and little or no new discoveries were made. Many scientists

attempted to follow in Newton’s footsteps but were unable to live up to the amazing scientist’s name he

had made for himself. Newton made such great advances beyond his time it took humanity a while to

catch up in new ideas and technology to discover and invent.

Newton greatly changed the way we view the world, science wouldn’t be the same today if it

weren’t for him. We might have still believed that objects slowed down because they got tired.

Newton’s laws have stood the test of time so well that our scientists today still base their experiments

and studies off of his. Newton made discoveries and defended his beliefs at a time when little

discoveries were being made. Without Newton life as we know it today would most likely be drastically

different.
Bibliography
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courses/current-courses/08sr-newton.htm>.

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and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Newton.html>.

Kalif, Will. How Newton's Telescope Changed the World. n.d. 4 3 2011

<http://blog.sciseek.com/2008/09/16/how-newtons-telescope-changed-the-world/>.

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