Newton

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Sir Isaac Newton was born to a farming family in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire on 25 December 1642 (4 January 1643 in the Gregorian calendar). He received a bachelor's degree at Trinity College Cambridge in 1665, became a Fellow of Trinity College in 1667 and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge in 1669.

During his period at Cambridge he became responsible for some of the most enduring results in mathematics and physics. He co-discovered the Calculus, with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

As a physicist he discovered the composition of white light. He explored the mechanics of planetary motion and proposed the three fundamental laws of mechanics, the law of gravitation and the inverse square law.

In 1687 he published the "Principia", generally regarded the most significant scientific book ever written, and embodying his discoveries.

In 1672 Newton was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Newton became Warden of the Royal Mint in 1696 and Master of the Mint in 1699.

In 1703 Newton was elected President of the Royal Society and re-elected as such every year until his death.

He published "Opticks", which discussed Newton's rings and diffractions as well as his theories on the composition of light. in 1704. He was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705. In his later life he did not engage in scientific research. He took a direct interest in the operations of the Mint and became wealthy.

Newton's life was clouded in controversy with a number of people, such as Hooke, over the origin of the inverse square law and who had claimed he stole ideas in optics from him, and with Leibniz over the origins of the calculus.

Newton died in London in 1727.

Written by Peter Taylor, January 2001.

A number of historical references were used in composing this short biography. They included

• Men of Mathematics, ET Bell, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1937, 1965.
• An Introduction to the History of Mathematics, Howard Eves, 4th ed,, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1976.

This T Shirt, which Newton and gravity (with an apple), is available from the AMT.