Isaac Newton

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He is also credited with the invention of the ''cat flap''.<ref>[http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13117785.000-forum-a-bit-of-a-flap--when-it-came-to-cats-newton-had-iteasy-.html Link]</ref>.
 
He is also credited with the invention of the ''cat flap''.<ref>[http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13117785.000-forum-a-bit-of-a-flap--when-it-came-to-cats-newton-had-iteasy-.html Link]</ref>.
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==Famous quotes==
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* If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.
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* I do not define time, space, place, and motion, as being well known to all.
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* We are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances.
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* To every action there is always opposed and equal reaction.
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 11:36, 5 April 2010

Sir Isaac Newton[1] 1642-1727 was a mathematician, physicist and philosopher. Gravity, optics and the calculus are among his fields of original study. He is known as one of the most important and influential individuals in the history of science.

As was common at the time, Newton also devoted much time to biblical scholarship, alchemy and other theological questions. Newton was a reclusive man and almost asexual, or possibly gay. He was also Arian in his religious beliefs. He stood up to James II's attempt to appoint a Roman Catholic monk named Alban Francis to an academic post at Cambridge and the appointment was stopped. Stephen Hawking has criticised Newton for this as an example of religious intolerance ("A Brief History of Time"). However it is to be borne in mind that the Roman Catholic Church had burnt Giordano Bruno for heresy, mostly on account of his Arianism (i.e.the belief that Jesus Christ was human, not divine) and that this appointment was the thin end of the wedge, leading to similar persecution that had stifled scientific enquiry in Catholic countries after Galileo. In his own lifetime, Newton wrote more on religion than he did on natural science.

Contents

Isaac Newton, P.I.

Newton was also Master of the Royal Mint, during which time he tracked down a notorious forger named William Chaloner, who was acting as a provocateur to implicate Roman Catholics in plotting against the state and then turning them in for a cash reward. He failed in the first prosecution but convicted him the second time around (resulting in his being hanged, drawn and quartered).

Legacy and criticism

Newton's famous phrase "If I have seen further than others, then it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants" and the story that the idea of gravity came to him watching an apple fall have to be understood in relation to his enmity with Robert Hooke, the greatest experimental scientist of his age. The term "gravity" had been coined by Hooke, especially in relation to planetary motion, and he even tried to measure it experimentally, before Newton even mentioned it. Thus it is likely that his inspiration for gravity came from the seven pages of notes he took from Robert Hooke's work than from observing falling apples.[2]

In his later years, Newton's desperation to solve many of the mysteries of physics led him to introduce invisible and unfalsifiable (a.k.a supernatural) elements into his theories,[3] which earned him much criticism from his colleagues.

As he was a creationist, modern creationists use him to justify their views - though they tend to ignore the occultism. However, this is just an argument from authority, and said creationists frequently forget that he was around hundreds of years before Darwin.

College bowl question

He also held a very serious dispute (probably the most heated one in the history of science) with Leibniz over the development of calculus. There was dissent among scientists over who developed it first. Leibniz took this matter to the Royal Society to act as a mediator and investigate the dispute, however, the president of the Royal Society (Newton himself) made sure the reports went in Newton's favour. It is now known that Newton invented calculus before Leibniz, but published his work later.[4]

The answer, if you are ever in one of these college bowl game show things, to the question "who invented the calculus?", is now generally accepted to be: "Newton and Leibniz, simultaneously and independently." [5]

He is also credited with the invention of the cat flap.[6].

Famous quotes

  • If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.
  • I do not define time, space, place, and motion, as being well known to all.
  • We are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances.
  • To every action there is always opposed and equal reaction.

See also

Footnotes

  • The Fellowship, by John Gribbin
  1. "Official" website
  2. One of our editors is really into Hooke, in case you haven't noticed.
  3. Ether, anyone?
  4. A Brief History of Time
  5. Invoking quantum physics is also acceptable, but only if you bring a cat in a box.
  6. Link
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