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| It all happened here: The apple tree outside Newton's house |
Young Isaac Newton was relaxing in the shade of his apple tree
with a Mad Magazine when,
suddenly, an apple dropped on his head.
He looked up. It was Josua, son of the gardener, around his
age
and a mischievous urchin. He had climbed up that tree unseen.
Isaac was not one to take indignities lying down. He picked
up that apple and let fly.
But Josua was not standing still. He swarmed down, picked up
the rotten apples lying around and returned fire. Try as he might,
Isaac could make only one of his apples find its mark.
Meanwhile, he himself had been hit ten times, the last apple
scoring a direct hit on his face. When he finally emerged into
daylight, young Josua was nowhere to be seen.
Isaac Newton successfully beat a retreat to the sancuary
of his house. He took up a quill pen and wrote in his diary:
"For Every apple there are ten opposite Apples"- Newton's first Law.
Months passed by. It was Christmas vacation, and snowing
heavily.
Isaac saw his chance for revenge, as he saw Josua approach alone.
He made a snowball and flung it at Josua, and then ran for the
safety
of his house. This time, Josua, though taken unawares, recovered
quickly enough to splatter Newton two times. Once inside, Newton
remembered that his law needed modifying:
"For Every snowball there are two opposite snowballs"- Newton's second Law.
Years pass by. The venue shifts to Goodwood, where
Newton and Josua face each other in the
boxing ring.
After the three rounds, the referee awarded Josua the fight on
points.
He had returned every one of Newton's attacks in exactly the same
manner, and made fun of him in between.
As he trudged back from the fight, Newton remembered that his
law
needed updating:
"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" - Newton's Third Law.