Sir Isaac Newton |
1642-1727 |
Newton was born on Christmas day in 1642. His father died before he was born, but had been a farmer.
Newton entered Trinity College in Cambridge at age 18 because of the genius he showed as a child. He made various toys including a clock powered by water.
In 1665 he began to develop differential calculus. During the plague, the school was closed and was forced to continue his studies at home. During this time, he studied calculus, optics, and graviation.
Newton hated controversy. When his theory of colours was published it was attacked and he vowed never to publish anything else on science. He then left many articles unpublished and was in dispute with Leibniz on priority of the discovery of calculus.
Newton wrote the first book of Principia by 1685. The full three book edition was published as Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica in 1687.
He was elected president of the Royal Society in 1703. Newton held this position until he died in 1727. In 1705, he was knighted.
Some of Newton's most famous works include:
Sites About Sir Isaac Newton |
Description |
| Sir Isaac Newton | A detailed biography of Newton's life. |
| Sir Isaac Newton | From `A Short Account of the History of Mathematics' (4th edition, 1908) by W. W. Rouse Ball. |
| Sir Isaac Newton | An indepth look at Newton's life and his contributions to Mathematics. |