Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton
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Birth
Isaac Newton was born in the manor house of Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire.
Although by the calendar in use at the time of his birth he was born on Christmas Day 1642,
we give the date of 4 January 1643 in this biography.
Adulthood
Isaac Newton explained the workings of the universe through mathematics. He formulated laws of motion and gravitation.
Isaac published his most famous book,
Principia, in 1687 while he was a mathematics professor at Trinity College, Cambridge. In the Principia, Isaac explained three
basic laws that govern the way objects move. In his book Isaac also
used his laws to show that the planets revolve around the suns in orbits that are oval, not round.
Isaac Newton used three laws to explain the way objects move. They are often call Newton�s Laws. The First Law states that
an object that is not being pushed or pulled by some force will stay still, or will keep moving in a straight line at a steady
speed. The tendency of an object to remain still, or keep moving in
a straight line at a steady speed is called inertia.
The Second Law explains how a force acts on an object. An object accelerates in the direction the force is moving it.
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The Third Law states that if an object is pushed or pulled, it will push or pull equally in the opposite direction.
When most people think of Isaac Newton, they think of him sitting under an apple tree observing an apple fall to the ground. When he
saw the apple fall, Newton began to think about a specific kind of motion�gravity. Newton understood that gravity was the force of
attraction between two objects. He also understood that an object with more matter �mass- exerted the greater force, or pulled
smaller object toward it. That meant that the large mass of the earth pulled objects toward it. That is why the apple fell down
instead of up, and why people don�t float in the air.
Isaac Newton�s calculations changed the way people understood the universe. No one had been able to explain why the planets stayed
in their orbits. What held them up? Less that 50 years before Isaac Newton was born it was thought that the planets were held in place
by an invisible shield.
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Death
Newton died in London on March 20, 1727 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the first scientist to be accorded this honor.