Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton (4 January [<a href="/facts/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/kb3020Wy">O.S.</a> 25 December] 1643 – 31 March [<a href="/facts/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/kb3020Wy">O.S.</a> 20 March] 1727) was an English <a href="/facts/Polymath/eqIfjQRu">polymath</a> active as a <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>, <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>, <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>, <a href="/facts/Alchemist/CEx0U1Em">alchemist</a>, <a href="/facts/Theologian/N71Fyw2M">theologian</a>, and author. Newton was a key figure in the <a href="/facts/Scientific_Revolution/KdeJepMq">Scientific Revolution</a> and the <a href="/facts/Age_of_Enlightenment/Uj2Fa8Mk">Enlightenment</a> that followed. His book <a href="/facts/Philosophi%25C3%25A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematica/DRdvI3yx">Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica</a> (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, achieved the <a href="/facts/Unification_of_theories_in_physics/GV8h3FNJ">first great unification in physics</a> and established <a href="/facts/Classical_mechanics/ykG8upsN">classical mechanics</a>. Newton also made seminal contributions to <a href="/facts/Optics/p0vq4S1T">optics</a>, and <a href="/facts/Leibniz%25E2%2580%2593Newton_calculus_controversy/V7cS27Js">shares credit</a> with German mathematician <a href="/facts/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz/cTc2er83">Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz</a> for formulating <a href="/facts/Calculus/MEmUTYoz">infinitesimal calculus</a>, though he developed calculus years before Leibniz. Newton contributed to and refined the <a href="/facts/Scientific_method/182j8RWE">scientific method</a>, and his work is considered the most influential in bringing forth modern science.
In the Principia, Newton formulated the <a href="/facts/Newton%2527s_laws_of_motion/XKzGTXK1">laws of motion</a> and <a href="/facts/Newton%2527s_law_of_universal_gravitation/F6qH2XC3">universal gravitation</a> that formed the dominant scientific viewpoint for centuries until it was superseded by the <a href="/facts/Theory_of_relativity/qGHj3eTC">theory of relativity</a>. He used his mathematical description of <a href="/facts/Gravity/bqAN7DdQ">gravity</a> to derive <a href="/facts/Kepler%2527s_laws_of_planetary_motion/jYQoIBjM">Kepler's laws of planetary motion</a>, account for <a href="/facts/Tide/zNstvWPv">tides</a>, the <a href="/facts/Trajectory/STNN33FK">trajectories</a> of <a href="/facts/Comet/w34utQCd">comets</a>, the <a href="/facts/Axial_precession/NQ79x3m3">precession of the equinoxes</a> and other phenomena, eradicating doubt about the <a href="/facts/Solar_System/QIcLSazQ">Solar System</a>'s <a href="/facts/Heliocentrism/4hoCMs7P">heliocentricity</a>. Newton solved the <a href="/facts/Two-body_problem/YCG4geSH">two-body problem</a>, and introduced the <a href="/facts/Three-body_problem/58dES4YL">three-body problem</a>. He demonstrated that the <a href="/facts/Dynamics_(mechanics)/JLk81H71">motion of objects</a> on Earth and <a href="/facts/Astronomical_object/BCHLa0Q2">celestial bodies</a> could be accounted for by the same principles. Newton's inference that the Earth is an <a href="/facts/Spheroid/GJyyLxQ7">oblate spheroid</a> was later confirmed by the geodetic measurements of <a href="/facts/Alexis_Clairaut/mfnHdyIJ">Alexis Clairaut</a>, <a href="/facts/Charles_Marie_de_La_Condamine/cx5G4yFg">Charles Marie de La Condamine</a>, and others, convincing most European scientists of the superiority of Newtonian mechanics over earlier systems. He was also the first to calculate the <a href="/facts/Age_of_Earth/MxNh2Q11">age of Earth</a> by experiment, and described a precursor to the modern <a href="/facts/Wind_tunnel/yNFbccXQ">wind tunnel</a>.
Newton built the <a href="/facts/Newtonian_telescope/E4rvUDLR">first reflecting telescope</a> and developed a sophisticated <a href="/facts/Color_theory/bDWrmeqV">theory of colour</a> based on the observation that a <a href="/facts/Dispersive_prism/87fCcXBo">prism</a> separates <a href="/facts/Electromagnetic_spectrum/24LARvFY">white light</a> into the colours of the <a href="/facts/Visible_spectrum/frPBh8o5">visible spectrum</a>. His work on light was collected in his book <a href="/facts/Opticks/07BYGLH3">Opticks</a>, published in 1704. He originated prisms as <a href="/facts/Beam_expander/lpwqjIRz">beam expanders</a> and <a href="/facts/Multiple-prism_dispersion_theory/I3vM0IAb">multiple-prism arrays</a>, which would later become integral to the development of <a href="/facts/Tunable_laser/CrBKz2S6">tunable lasers</a>. He also anticipated <a href="/facts/Wave%25E2%2580%2593particle_duality/Au3UlcwQ">wave–particle duality</a> and was the first to theorize the <a href="/facts/Goos%25E2%2580%2593H%25C3%25A4nchen_effect/F5EDr0qm">Goos–Hänchen effect</a>. He further formulated an <a href="/facts/Newton%2527s_law_of_cooling/6dHFqFPj">empirical law of cooling</a>, which was the first heat transfer formulation and serves as the formal basis of <a href="/facts/Convection_(heat_transfer)/3r5MHqdg">convective heat transfer</a>, made the first theoretical calculation of the <a href="/facts/Speed_of_sound/dYtbt1nf">speed of sound</a>, and introduced the notions of a <a href="/facts/Newtonian_fluid/hpzNyDH5">Newtonian fluid</a> and a <a href="/facts/Black_body/f0fHghDy">black body</a>. He was also the first to explain the <a href="/facts/Magnus_effect/Sgolud8d">Magnus effect</a>. Furthermore, he made early studies into <a href="/facts/Electricity/hNC8D65W">electricity</a>. In addition to his creation of calculus, Newton's work on mathematics was extensive. He generalized the <a href="/facts/Binomial_theorem/hd4SmkUd">binomial theorem</a> to any real number, introduced the <a href="/facts/Puiseux_series/uuIxHyV1">Puiseux series</a>, was the first to state <a href="/facts/B%25C3%25A9zout%2527s_theorem/QxstoGnv">Bézout's theorem</a>, classified most of the <a href="/facts/Cubic_plane_curve/FSU8tXAb">cubic plane curves</a>, contributed to the study of <a href="/facts/Cremona_transformation/w7ugmXUf">Cremona transformations</a>, developed <a href="/facts/Newton%2527s_method/VlRhI2FL">a method</a> for approximating the <a href="/facts/Zero_of_a_function/mlK3dhoT">roots of a function</a>, and also originated the <a href="/facts/Newton%25E2%2580%2593Cotes_formulas/dp3Jhoor">Newton–Cotes formulas</a> for <a href="/facts/Numerical_integration/MwJnvcDV">numerical integration</a>. He further initiated the field of <a href="/facts/Calculus_of_variations/Ya5Lsma3">calculus of variations</a>, devised an early form of <a href="/facts/Regression_analysis/n6z5Tf7K">regression analysis</a>, and was a pioneer of <a href="/facts/Vector_calculus/mXKIJLJE">vector analysis</a>.
Newton was a fellow of <a href="/facts/Trinity_College%2c_Cambridge/uI0I61Sb">Trinity College</a> and the second <a href="/facts/Lucasian_Professor_of_Mathematics/IScn3qhm">Lucasian Professor of Mathematics</a> at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Cambridge/0la7aX9o">University of Cambridge</a>; he was appointed at the age of 26. He was a devout but unorthodox Christian who privately rejected the doctrine of the <a href="/facts/Trinity/2eElg705">Trinity</a>. He refused to take <a href="/facts/Holy_orders/kFmEdcF6">holy orders</a> in the <a href="/facts/Church_of_England/A1CoKeGz">Church of England</a>, unlike most members of the Cambridge faculty of the day. Beyond his work on the <a href="/facts/Mathematical_sciences/bLweGlQp">mathematical sciences</a>, Newton dedicated much of his time to the study of <a href="/facts/Alchemy/CEx0U1Em">alchemy</a> and <a href="/facts/Chronology_of_the_Bible/qsjGp9yx">biblical chronology</a>, but most of his work in those areas remained unpublished until long after his death. Politically and personally tied to the <a href="/facts/Whigs_(British_political_party)/I34xpgxK">Whig party</a>, Newton served two brief terms as <a href="/facts/Cambridge_University_(UK_Parliament_constituency)/CFD4MbUW">Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge</a>, in 1689–1690 and 1701–1702. He was <a href="/facts/Knight/q6oIppem">knighted</a> by <a href="/facts/Anne%2c_Queen_of_Great_Britain/0jXC35Ch">Queen Anne</a> in 1705 and spent the last three decades of his life in London, serving as <a href="/facts/Warden_of_the_Mint/4nnTdSj2">Warden</a> (1696–1699) and <a href="/facts/Master_of_the_Mint/wUWV4GK1">Master</a> (1699–1727) of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Mint/GF1D247S">Royal Mint</a>, in which he increased the accuracy and security of British coinage, as well as the president of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society/KI5yXCuV">Royal Society</a> (1703–1727).

Isaac Newton open-in-new

Isaac Newton