Sir Isaac Newton is one of the most influential scientists in history. He laid the foundations for modern physics and astronomy, revolutionizing our understanding of natural phenomena with his groundbreaking theories. His contributions to mathematics were also remarkable; he developed calculus and made major advances in optics and mechanics. In addition to these achievements, he was a philosopher, alchemist, theologian, author, and politician who left an indelible mark on science and the world at large.
Born on December 25th, 1642, in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, England, Newton began studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was first exposed to scientific ideas from Aristotle's works as well as those of Descartes and Galileo Galilei. By 1665, he had discovered that white light consists of all colors combined, but it would be several more years before he started developing what would become known as "Newton's laws of motion," which describe how objects move under different forces. This work led him to create the law of universal gravitation, which states that every object exerts a gravitational force on another object proportional to their masses divided by the square of their distance apart. It not only explained why planets orbit around stars but also provided us with a mathematical toolkit for predicting motion throughout space.
In addition to this breakthrough discovery, Newton went on to make major advances in other areas, such as optics. His book, Opticks (1704), described how light behaves when passing through lenses or reflecting surfaces. Newon used experiments similar to those of Robert Hooke (1635–1803) to show that prisms can be used to separate colors into their constituent parts. He showed that the seven colors we see in sunlight—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo violet—are actually seven separate hues, not one continuous spectrum like we see without optical tools like telescopes or microscopes. Another experiment involving mirrors demonstrated how two parallel rays could intersect each other after being reflected twice, resulting in interference patterns upon viewing them again through prisms, confirming wave theory over particle theory much earlier than anticipated by contemporary thinkers, including Christiaan Huygens (1629–95).
While working towards completing Principia Mathematica, arguably his greatest achievement (wherein many concepts related to gravity are further explored), it became clear that knowledge gained during experiments could lead us closer towards understanding nature better while drawing connections between seemingly unrelated subjects, thereby forming new theories along the way, thus leading humanity forward ever closer towards uncovering truths about ourselves and the universe beyond our comprehension at times.