Michael McClain MEEN 1110.

001 October 13, 2010 Assignment #6: Speaker (Heiden) Response Essay Sir Isaac Newton is without question of the most notable scholars of all time. His book Principia is considered one of, if not the most, influential works in the sciences. Newtons most notable achievements include the development of his three laws of motion and his work with optics and refractory lenses. Newton helped create differentiable and integral calculus; he developed the first telescope and developed his famous theory of gravitation. Newton abandoned the curriculum being taught at Cambridge and developed a whole new understanding of the physical world, and his achievements have helped move the entire human race forward and will continue to help us understand the world we live in. Newtons first major achievement was the development of the fluxional method in mathematics, which would become modern day calculus. Although he didnt claim credit to it until years after another mathematician arrived at similar finding, differential calculus. Newtons second great achievement was his study of light and refraction, when he passes white light through a prism to separate the various colors and then shone these separate waves of light through another prism to show that they would not separate again. These findings would be the basis for finding the periodicity of light waves. Perhaps Sir Isaacss most notable contributions to the world were in his Principia where he described his law of universal gravitation and his three laws of motion. These findings alone have changed the scientific community forever. It was after publishing this work that Newton gained notoriety and fame. Without the impressive dedication of a young Isaac Newton to understand the world he lived in, we would be far less technologically advanced and his finding have shaped the field of engineering for decades to come. (Word Count = 288)

Michael McClain MEEN 1110.001 October 13, 2010 Works Cited "NEWTON, Sir Isaac." (n.d.): Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. "Sir Isaac Newton." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2009): 1. Vocational and Career Collection. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. Schulman, Adam, reviewer. "[Newton's gift: how Sir Isaac Newton unlocked the system of the world (Book Review)]." Commentary 111.5 (2001): 72-77. Social Sciences Abstracts (H.W. Wilson). EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.