Isaac Newton was born prematurely on Christmas day 1642 (4 January 1643, New Style in !

oolsthorpe, a hamlet near "rantham in #incolnshire$ %he posthumous son o& an illiterate yeoman (also named Isaac , the &atherless in&ant was small enou'h at birth to &it (into a )uartpot$( !hen he was barely three years old Newton(s mother, *anna (+yscou'h , placed her &irst born with his 'randmother in order to remarry and raise a second &amily with ,arnabas Smith, a wealthy rector &rom nearby North !itham$ -uch has been made o& Newton(s posthumous birth, his prolon'ed separation &rom his mother, and his unri.aled hatred o& his step&ather$ /ntil *anna returned to !oolsthorpe in 1603 a&ter the death o& her second husband, Newton was denied his mother(s attention, a possible clue to his comple1 character$ Newton(s childhood was anythin' but happy, and throu'hout his li&e he .er'ed on emotional collapse, occasionally &allin' into .iolent and .indicti.e attac2s a'ainst &riend and &oe ali2e$

Scientific Achievements
Mathematics 3 %he ori'in o& Newton(s interest in mathematics can be traced to his under'raduate days at Cambrid'e$ *ere Newton became ac)uainted with a number o& contemporary wor2s, includin' an edition o& 4escartes Gomtrie, John !allis( Arithmetica infinitorum, and other wor2s by prominent mathematicians$ ,ut between 1664 and his return to Cambrid'e a&ter the pla'ue, Newton made &undamental contributions to analytic 'eometry, al'ebra, and calculus$ Speci&ically, he disco.ered the binomial theorem, new methods &or e1pansion o& in&inite series, and his (direct and in.erse method o& &lu1ions$( +s the term implies, &lu1ional calculus is a method &or treatin' chan'in' or &lowin' )uantities$ *ence, a (&lu1ion( represents the rate o& chan'e o& a (&luent(33 a continuously chan'in' or &lowin' )uantity, such as distance, area, or len'th$ In essence, &lu1ions were the &irst words in a new lan'ua'e o& physics$ Newton(s creati.e years in mathematics e1tended &rom 1664 to rou'hly the sprin' o& 1656$ +lthou'h his predecessors had anticipated .arious elements o& the calculus, Newton 'enerali6ed and inte'rated these insi'hts while de.elopin' new and more ri'orous methods$ %he essential elements o& his thou'ht were presented in three tracts, the &irst appearin' in a pri.ately circulated treatise, De analysi (On Analysis ,which went unpublished until 1711$ In 1671, Newton de.eloped a more complete account o& his method o& in&initesimals, which appeared nine years a&ter his death as Methodus fluxionum et serierum infinitarum (The Method of Fluxions and Infinite Series, 1736 $ In addition to these wor2s, Newton wrote &our smaller tracts, two o& which were appended to his Opticks o& 1784$ Newton and #eibni6$ Ne1t to its brilliance, the most characteristic &eature o& Newton(s mathematical career was delayed publication$ Newton(s priority dispute with #eibni6 is a celebrated but unhappy e1ample$ "ott&ried !ilhelm #eibni6, Newton(s most capable ad.ersary, be'an publishin' papers on calculus in 1694, almost 28 years a&ter Newton(s disco.eries commenced$ %he result o& this temporal discrepancy was a bitter dispute that ra'ed &or nearly two decades$ %he ordeal be'an with rumors that #eibni6 had borrowed ideas &rom Newton and rushed them into print$ It ended with char'es o& dishonesty and outri'ht pla'iarism$ %he Newton3#eibni6 priority dispute33 which e.entually e1tended into philosophical areas concernin' the nature o& "od and the uni.erse33 ultimately turned on the ambi'uity o& priority$ It is now 'enerally a'reed that Newton and #eibni6 each de.eloped the calculus independently, and hence they are considered co3disco.erers$ ,ut while

Newton was the &irst to concei.e and de.elop his method o& &lu1ions, #eibni6 was the &irst to publish his independent results$ Optics. Newton(s optical research, li2e his mathematical in.esti'ations, be'an durin' his under'raduate years at Cambrid'e$ ,ut unli2e his mathematical wor2, Newton(s studies in optics )uic2ly became public$ Shortly a&ter his election to the :oyal Society in 1671, Newton published his &irst paper in the hilosophical Transactions of the !oyal Society$ %his paper, and others that &ollowed, drew on his under'raduate researches as well as his #ucasian lectures at Cambrid'e$ In 166031666, Newton per&ormed a number o& e1periments on the composition o& li'ht$ "uided initially by the writin's o& ;epler and 4escartes, Newton(s main disco.ery was that .isible (white li'ht is hetero'eneous33that is, white li'ht is composed o& colors that can be considered primary$ %hrou'h a brilliant series o& e1periments, Newton demonstrated that prisms separate rather than modi&y white li'ht$ Contrary to the theories o& +ristotle and other ancients, Newton held that white li'ht is secondary and hetero'eneous, while the separate colors are primary and homo'eneous$ <& perhaps e)ual importance, Newton also demonstrated that the colors o& the spectrum, once thou'ht to be )ualities, correspond to an obser.ed and )uanti&iable (de'ree o& :e&ran'ibility$( %he Crucial =1periment$ Newton(s most &amous e1periment, the experimentum crucis, demonstrated his theory o& the composition o& li'ht$ ,rie&ly, in a dar2 room Newton allowed a narrow beam o& sunli'ht to pass &rom a small hole in a window shutter throu'h a prism, thus brea2in' the white li'ht into an oblon' spectrum on a board$ %hen, throu'h a small aperture in the board, Newton selected a 'i.en color (&or e1ample, red to pass throu'h yet another aperture to a second prism, throu'h which it was re&racted onto a second board$ !hat be'an as ordinary white li'ht was thus dispersed throu'h two prisms$ Newton(s (crucial e1periment( demonstrated that a selected color lea.in' the &irst prism could not be separated &urther by the second prism$ %he selected beam remained the same color, and its an'le o& re&raction was constant throu'hout$ Newton concluded that white li'ht is a (*etero'eneous mi1ture o& di&&erently re&ran'ible :ays( and that colors o& the spectrum cannot themsel.es be indi.idually modi&ied, but are (<ri'inal and connate properties$( Newton probably conducted a number o& his prism e1periments at Cambrid'e be&ore the pla'ue &orced him to return to !oolsthorpe$ *is #ucasian lectures, later published in part as Optical "ectures (1729 , supplement other researches published in the Society(s %ransactions datin' &rom >ebruary 1672$ %he <ptic2s$ %he Opticks o& 1784, which &irst appeared in =n'lish, is Newton(s most comprehensi.e and readily accessible wor2 on li'ht and color$ In Newton(s words, the purpose o& the Opticks was (not to e1plain the ?roperties o& #i'ht by *ypotheses, but to propose and pro.e them by :eason and =1periments$( 4i.ided into three boo2s, the Opticks mo.es &rom de&initions, a1ioms, propositions, and theorems to proo& by e1periment$ + subtle blend o& mathematical reasonin' and care&ul obser.ation, the Opticks became the model &or e1perimental physics in the 19th century$ %he Corpuscular %heory$ ,ut the Opticks contained more than e1perimental results$ 4urin' the 17th century it was widely held that li'ht, li2e sound, consisted o& a wa.e or undulatory motion,

and Newton(s ma@or critics in the &ield o& optics33:obert *oo2e and Christiaan *uy'ens33were articulate spo2esmen &or this theory$ ,ut Newton disa'reed$ +lthou'h his .iews e.ol.ed o.er time, Newton(s theory o& li'ht was essentially corpuscular, or particulate$ In e&&ect, since li'ht (unli2e sound tra.els in strai'ht lines and casts a sharp shadow, Newton su''ested that li'ht was composed o& discrete particles mo.in' in strai'ht lines in the manner o& inertial bodies$ >urther, since e1periment had shown that the properties o& the separate colors o& li'ht were constant and unchan'in', so too, Newton reasoned, was the stu&& o& li'ht itsel&33 particles$ +t .arious points in his career Newton in e&&ect combined the particle and wa.e theories o& li'ht$ In his earliest dispute with *oo2e and a'ain in his Opticks o& 1717, Newton considered the possibility o& an ethereal substance33an all3per.asi.e elastic material more subtle than air33that would pro.ide a medium &or the propa'ation o& wa.es or .ibrations$ >rom the outset Newton re@ected the basic wa.e models o& *oo2e and *uy'ens, perhaps because they o.erloo2ed the subtlety o& periodicity$ %he )uestion o& periodicity arose with the phenomenon 2nown as (Newton(s rin's$( In boo2 II o& the Opticks, Newton describes a series o& e1periments concernin' the colors o& thin &ilms$ *is most remar2able obser.ation was that li'ht passin' throu'h a con.e1 lens pressed a'ainst a &lat 'lass plate produces concentric colored rin's (Newton(s rin's with alternatin' dar2 rin's$ Newton attempted to e1plain this phenomenon by employin' the particle theory in con@unction with his hypothesis o& (&its o& easy transmission Are&ractionB and re&lection$( +&ter ma2in' care&ul measurements, Newton &ound that the thic2ness o& the &ilm o& air between the lens (o& a 'i.en cur.ature and the 'lass corresponded to the spacin' o& the rin's$ I& dar2 rin's occurred at thic2nesses o& 8, 2, 4, 6$$$ , then the colored rin's corresponded to an odd number pro'ression, 1, 3, 0, 7, $$$$ +lthou'h Newton did not speculate on the cause o& this periodicity, his initial association o& (Newton(s rin's( with .ibrations in a medium su''ests his willin'ness to modi&y but not abandon the particle theory$ %he Opticks was Newton(s most widely read wor2$ >ollowin' the &irst edition, #atin .ersions appeared in 1786 and 1715, and second and third =n'lish editions in 1717 and 1721$ ?erhaps the most pro.ocati.e part o& the Opticks is the section 2nown as the (Cueries,( which Newton placed at the end o& the boo2$ *ere he posed )uestions and .entured opinions on the nature o& li'ht, matter, and the &orces o& nature$ -echanics$ Newton(s research in dynamics &alls into three ma@or periodsD the pla'ue years 166431666, the in.esti'ations o& 167531698, &ollowin' *oo2e(s correspondence, and the period 16943 1697, &ollowin' *alley(s .isit to Cambrid'e$ %he 'radual e.olution o& Newton(s thou'ht o.er these two decades illustrates the comple1ity o& his achie.ement as well as the prolon'ed character o& scienti&ic (disco.ery$( !hile the myth o& Newton and the apple maybe true, the traditional account o& Newton and 'ra.ity is not$ %o be sure, Newton(s early thou'hts on 'ra.ity be'an in !oolsthorpe, but at the time o& his &amous (moon test( Newton had yet to arri.e at the concept o& 'ra.itational attraction$ =arly manuscripts su''est that in the mid31668(s, Newton did not thin2 in terms o& the moon(s central attraction toward the earth but rather o& the moon(s centri&u'al tendency to recede$ /nder the in&luence o& the mechanical philosophy, Newton had yet to consider the possibility o& action3 at3 a3distanceE nor was he aware o& ;epler(s &irst two planetary hypotheses$ >or historical, philosophical,

and mathematical reasons, Newton assumed the moon(s centri&u'al (endea.our( to be e)ual and opposite to some un2nown mechanical constraint$ >or the same reasons, he also assumed a circular orbit and an in.erse s)uare relation$ %he latter was deri.ed &rom ;epler(s third hypothesis (the s)uare o& a planet(s orbital period is proportional to the cube o& its mean distance &rom the sun , the &ormula &or centri&u'al &orce (the centri&u'al &orce on a re.ol.in' body is proportional to the s)uare o& its .elocity and in.ersely proportional to the radius o& its orbit , and the assumption o& circular orbits$ %he ne1t step was to test the in.erse s)uare relation a'ainst empirical data$ %o do this Newton, in e&&ect, compared the restraint on the moon(s (endea.our( to recede with the obser.ed rate o& acceleration o& &allin' ob@ects on earth$ %he problem was to obtain accurate data$ +ssumin' "alileo(s estimate that the moon is 68 earth radii &rom the earth, the restraint on the moon should ha.e been 1F3688 (1F682 o& the 'ra.itational acceleration on earth$ ,ut Newton(s estimate o& the si6e o& the earth was too low, and his calculation showed the e&&ect on the moon to be about 1F4888 o& that on earth$ +s Newton later described it, the moon test answered (pretty nearly$( ,ut the &i'ures &or the moon were not e1act, and Newton abandoned the problem$ In late 1675 and early 1698 an e1chan'e o& letters with *oo2e renewed Newton(s interest$ In No.ember 1675, nearly 10 years a&ter the moon test, *oo2e wrote Newton concernin' a hypothesis presented in his Attempt to ro#e the Motion of the $arth (1674 $ *ere *oo2e proposed that planetary orbits result &rom a tan'ential motion and (an attracti.e motion towards the centrall body$( In later letters *oo2e &urther speci&ied a central attractin' &orce that &ell o&& with the s)uare o& distance$ +s a result o& this e1chan'e Newton re@ected his earlier notion o& centri&u'al tendencies in &a.or o& central attraction$ *oo2e(s letters pro.ided crucial insi'ht$ ,ut in retrospect, i& *oo2e(s intuiti.e power seems unparalleled, it ne.er approached Newton(s mathematical power in principle or in practice$ !hen *alley .isited Cambrid'e in 1694, Newton had already demonstrated the relation between an in.erse s)uare attraction and elliptical orbits$ %o *alley(s (@oy and ama6ement,( Newton apparently succeeded where he and others &ailed$ !ith this, *alley(s role shi&ted, and he proceeded to 'uide Newton toward publication$ *alley personally &inanced the rincipia and saw it throu'h the press to publication in July 1697$ The Principia. Newton(s masterpiece is di.ided into three boo2s$ ,oo2 I o& the rincipia be'ins with ei'ht de&initions and three a1ioms, the latter now 2nown as Newton(s laws o& motion$ No discussion o& Newton would be complete without themD (1 =.ery body continues in its state o& rest, or uni&orm motion in a strai'ht line, unless it is compelled to chan'e that state by &orces impressed on it (inertia $ (2 %he chan'e in motion is proportional to the moti.e &orce impressed and is made in the direction o& the strai'ht line in which that &orce is impressed (> G ma $ (3 %o e.ery action there is always an opposed and e)ual reaction$ >ollowin' these a1ioms, Newton proceeds step by step with propositions, theorems, and problems$ In ,oo2 II o& the rincipia, Newton treats the -otion o& bodies throu'h resistin' mediums as well as the motion o& &luids themsel.es$ Since ,oo2 II was not part o& Newton(s initial outline, it has traditionally seemed somewhat out o& place$ Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that near the end o& ,oo2 II (Section IH Newton demonstrates that the .ortices in.o2ed by 4escartes to e1plain planetary motion could not be sel&3sustainin'E nor was the .orte1 theory consistent with ;epler(s three

planetary rules$ %he purpose o& ,oo2 II then becomes clear$ +&ter discreditin' 4escartes( system, Newton concludesD (*ow these motions are per&ormed in &ree space without .ortices, may be understood by the &irst boo2E and I shall now more &ully treat o& it in the &ollowin' boo2$( In ,oo2 III, subtitled the System of the %orld, Newton e1tended his three laws o& motion to the &rame o& the world, &inally demonstratin' (that there is a power o& 'ra.ity tendin' to all bodies, proportional to the se.eral )uantities o& matter which they contain$( Newton(s law o& uni.ersal 'ra.itation states that > G " -mF:2E that is, that all matter is mutually attracted with a &orce (> proportional to the product o& their masses (-m and in.ersely proportional to the s)uare o& distance (:2 between them$ " is a constant whose .alue depends on the units used &or mass and distance$ %o demonstrate the power o& his theory, Newton used 'ra.itational attraction to e1plain the motion o& the planets and their moons, the precession o& e)uino1es, the action o& the tides, and the motion o& comets$ In sum, Newton(s uni.erse united hea.en and earth with a sin'le set o& laws$ It became the physical and intellectual &oundation o& the modern world .iew$ ?erhaps the most power&ul and in&luential scienti&ic treatise e.er published, the rincipia appeared in two &urther editions durin' Newton(s li&etime, in 1713 and 1726$ Other Researches$ %hrou'hout his career Newton conducted research in theolo'y and history with the same passion that he pursued alchemy and science$ +lthou'h some historians ha.e ne'lected Newton(s nonscienti&ic writin's, there is little doubt o& his de.otion to these sub@ects, as his manuscripts amply attest$ Newton(s writin's on theolo'ical and biblical sub@ects alone amount to about 1$3 million words, the e)ui.alent o& 28 o& today(s standard len'th boo2s$ +lthou'h these writin's say little about Newtonian science, they tell us a 'ood deal about Isaac Newton$ Newton(s &inal 'esture be&ore death was to re&use the sacrament, a decision o& some conse)uence in the 19th century$ +lthou'h Newton was duti&ully raised in the ?rotestant tradition his mature .iews on theolo'y were neither ?rotestant, traditional, nor orthodo1$ In the pri.acy o& his thou'hts and writin's, Newton re@ected a host o& doctrines he considered mystical, irrational, or superstitious$ In a word, he was a /nitarian$ Newton(s research outside o& science33in theolo'y, prophecy, and history33was a )uest &or coherence and unity$ *is passion was to unite 2nowled'e and belie&, to reconcile the ,oo2 o& Nature with the ,oo2 o& Scripture$