Isaac Newton was born at Wolsthorpe, Lincolnshire on 25 December 1642. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1661, and subsequently became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics (the post currently held by Stephen Hawking) in 1668, at the age of only 26.
Newton's most important work, the Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) was presented to the Royal Society in 1686, its subsequent publication being paid for by his close friend, the astronomer Edmund Halley.
In the Principia were presented Newtons laws of motion, and the law of universal gravitation. The laws of motion are the foundation of modern dynamics, defining concepts such as force and acceleration, inertia, mass and weight. The universal law of gravitation described the attraction between any two masses. Newton showed how these fundamental physical laws could be used to predict the orbit of the moon around the earth, and the form of the planetary orbits previously observed by Johannes Kepler.
Newton was also a briliant mathematician, developing the concepts of differential and integral calculus.
Newton also carried out a great deal of work on optical physics, published in 1704 in Opticks. He showed by passing light through prisms that it is made up of different colours. He investigated various optical effects, such as thin-film interference (Newton's rings). He was active in the debate over the corpuscular versus wave nature of light. And he constructed the first reflecting telescope, using mirrors rather than lenses, the precursor of all large modern astronomical telescopes.
Newton was however a controversial character, frequently involved in acrimonious disputes with other scientists; with Leibnitz over who should receive credit for the development of calculus, and with Robert Hooke over the nature of light.
Newton's interests were wide-ranging, from alchemy and the transmutation of other metals into gold, to the authenticity of biblical texts. He remarked:
'To myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me'
In later life Newton became less active as a scientist. He was elected member of parliament for the university in 1689. Subsequently he became Warden of the Royal Mint, becoming Master in 1699. He was knighted in 1705. He was elected President of the Royal Society in 1703, retaining that position until his death on 20th March 1727.
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