Sir Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 in Lincolnshire, UK. This amazing person was a physicist, philosopher, inventor, alchemist and mathematician. Newton was the author of the book Philosophiae Naturalis Princiiaathematicabetter known as Principia, in which he described the law of universal gravitation and laid the foundations of classical mechanics through the laws bearing his name.
Among his other scientific discoveries are works on the nature of light and optics (presented mainly in his work "Optics" and “The development of mathematical calculus“). Newton was the first to prove that the laws of nature that govern the motion on Earth and the laws that govern the motion of celestial bodies are the same. He is often called the greatest scientist of all time, and his work is the culmination of a scientific revolution.
We bring to your attention a list of 10 interesting facts about Isaac Newton: a biography of the scientist and the history of his life and scientific activity. Great discoveries of a talented inventor.
10. Born prematurely
Isaac Newton was born on January 4 according to the Gregorian calendar (which was introduced by England some time after other countries) about 13 weeks earlier than expected. As a child, he was too young, so he could not survive. He needed too much care, and for this reason became a special person.
Being prone to diseases, he spent most of his childhood at home, but this motivated him to develop intelligence and conduct his research.
9. The joke about how an apple fell on Newton’s head actually never happened
We all know the legend that Newton was lying under an apple tree when one of the fruits fell from a tree and hit his head, illuminating the scientist and motivating him to develop a theory about the force of gravity of the Earth. Such a story is just someone’s fantasy and has nothing to do with what really happened.
Newton noted that he saw an apple fall out of his window, but before that he was already considering the possibility of creating an element that implements such an interaction between objects. The formulation of the law of gravity could not be an accidental event, because its implementation took a lot of time and effort.
8. The scientist stuttered
Perhaps this was due to his difficult childhood, but it is known for certain that Newton developed a stutter that accompanied him most of his life. None of his contemporaries condemned him for this feature, and it did not in any way affect his communication with people and his position in society.
7. He believed in his exceptional mission
Newton was a very religious man, literally obsessed with biblical texts. There is a version that precisely because of his ardent faith in God, the scientist became a member of the society of Masons. He deeply studied the gospel and wrote a great deal on this subject. He even calculated the exact date of the death of Jesus Christ (April 3). According to Isaac and his analysis of the Bible, the Last Judgment will come in 2060. The scientist also thought that God chose him directly to interpret the religious book..
6. The dog ruined 20 years of work
This is half the truth that cannot be verified by reliable sources. Although some claim that Newton had a dog, others say that the animal penetrated the window and dropped a lighted candle, which completely burned his laboratory, destroying 20 years of research, which the scientist kept in this room.
5. Invented a way to counter counterfeiters
In Newton's time, the value of coins was equal to the amount of precious metal contained in them. Because of what the problem was acute - fraudsters cut small fragments of metal from the edges to make new coins out of them.
A way out of this situation was found by Isaac Newton. His advice to the authorities was very simple - to draw small lines on the edges of the coins, because of which the cut edges will immediately catch the eye. This part on coins is processed in the same way at present and is called herds.
4. He was an alchemist
Alchemy is a pseudoscience that is practiced mainly in the eastern world and is focused on cleaning and improving objects using various chemical processes.
Although Newton’s name is associated with official science, such as physics, at first, experimenting with nature, Englishman tried to create gold from other materials, and although he wrote several books on this subject, not one of them was published, since at that time the creation of silver and gold using alchemy was illegal.
3. He died a virgin
This may be one of the least significant data compared to Newton’s invaluable scientific heritage, but there are suspicions that due to his strange habits, obsession with various ideas and eccentricity he never had a romantic or sexual relationship with other women.
He did not marry and historians have no reliable data on any love relationship of Isaac Newton. Perhaps this is due to his hot religiosity. It is also likely that his passion for science and the search for truth absorbed the whole time of the scientist, and there was no time or energy left for his personal life.
In addition, historians and biographers have a theory that a scientist, because of his zeal for religion, considered fleshly relations to be base, impeding intellectual development. It is known that in his youth he had tender feelings for his childhood friend and neighbor, with whom he maintained a warm relationship until the end of his life and even sometimes helped her with money.
2. He was always a strange person
There is an inevitable secret in the great minds of history. We are trying to understand them in order to get an idea of how they became so wonderful. We think that if we understand them, we will be just like them, but the truth is that we are far from this.
According to another prominent modern scientist, Carl Sagan, Newton “worried about such petty issues as knowing, for example, whether light is a substance or an accident“But these are just small illustrations of the bizarre personality of a physicist. Isaac conducted dangerous experiments with his own body to satisfy his curiosity, and his obsessions frightened those around him.
At the same time, the scientist had a very inactive character. We will not delve into the full history of his many quarrels, but Newton managed to spoil relations with a whole galaxy of famous and respected contemporaries: from Leibniz to Robert Hooke. They say that it was through the efforts of the physicist that after the death of the latter his only lifetime portrait was destroyed, so we still don’t know what this outstanding scientist looked like. Newton once managed to enter into open conflict with King James II.
And here is what Isaac Newton himself thought of himself, who, judging by the inscription on his monument at Trinity College, "surpassed the mind of all people living on Earth»: «I have no idea how the world perceives me, but to myself I am only a boy playing on the seashore, who amuses himself by sometimes finding a pebble more colorful than others, or an interesting shell, while a huge and immense ocean of truth spreads in front of me, remaining unsound».
1. Member of the House of Lords
Being a member of the House of Lords for a long time, Newton always attended its meetings, but during this time he never made a speech. The only time he took the words, the scientist only asked to close the window so that there was no draft.