Isaac Newton
Born: 4th January, 1643, Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, United Kingdom
Died: 31st March, 1727, Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Full name: Sir Isaac Newton
Education: Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1665, M.A. 1668), The King’s School, Grantham (1655-1659)
An English
mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton was an astronomer and physicist who
is widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time and
a key figure in the scientific revolution.
Newton discovered many laws and theories in optics, motion and
mathematics. Newton wrote that white light was a composition of all colors of
the spectrum, and that light was composed of particles.
His momentous book on physics, Principia,
contains information on nearly all of the essential concepts of physics except
energy, ultimately helping him to explain the laws of motion and the theory of
gravity. Along with mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Newton is
credited for developing essential theories of calculus.
Newton's first major public scientific achievement was designing and
constructing a reflecting telescope in 1668. As a professor at Cambridge,
Newton delivered an annual course of lectures and chose optics as his initial
topic. He used his telescope to study optics and help prove his theory of light
and color.
The Royal Society told him to demonstrate his reflecting telescope
in 1671. They encouraged Newton to publish his notes on light, optics and color
in 1672.
In 1687, Newton published Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), most often known
as Principia.
In Principia, he describes the
motion of bodies with three basic but very important laws of motion.
First Law
A stationary body will stay stationary unless an
external force is applied to it.
Second Law
Force is equal to mass times acceleration, and a
change in speed is proportional to the force applied.
Third Law
For every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction.
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