SCIENCE: ISAAC NEWTON

I have compiled some info on Sir Isaac Newton whose theories on gravity are important.

Isaac Newton was born in England, on xmas day in 1642 (the year Galileo died).

During the time he was studying, the plague was spreading across Europe and the university closed.  Newton returned home and spent 2 years concentrating on mathematics and physics problems. 

He later wrote that during this time he first understood:

• the theory of gravitation,
• the theory of optics (he was the first to realize that white light is made up of the colors of the rainbow), and
• a lot of mathematics, i.e. integral / differential calculus and infinite series. 

On returning to Cambridge in 1667, he began to work on alchemy.

Newton’s first major public scientific achievement was the invention, design and construction of a reflecting telescope.  He ground the mirror, built the tube, and even made his own tools for the job.  This was a real advance in telescope technology, and ensured his election to membership in the Royal Society.

Gravitational Force 

The legend is that Newton saw an apple fall in his garden in Lincolnshire, thought of it in terms of an attractive gravitational force towards the earth, and realized the same force might extend as far as the moon.  He was familiar with Galileo’s work on projectiles, and suggested that the moon’s motion in orbit could be understood as a natural extension of that theory. 

Ref:  http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/newton.html
Ref:  http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/isaacnewton.html
___________________________________________
**Another interesting thing in the article I read is this:

Later in the 1670’s, Newton became very interested in theology.  He studied Hebrew scholarship and ancient and modern theologians at great length, and became convinced that Christianity had departed from the original teachings of Christ.  He felt unable to accept the current beliefs of the Church of England, which was unfortunate because he was required as a Fellow of Trinity College to take holy orders.  Happily, the Church of England was more flexible than Galileo had found the Catholic Church in these matters, and King Charles II issued a royal decree excusing Newton from the necessity of taking holy orders! Actually, to prevent this being a wide precedent, the decree specified that, in perpetuity, the Lucasian professor need not take holy orders.  (The current Lucasian professor is Stephen Hawking.)