The Contributions of Isaac Newton

Of all of the early scientists of the scientific revolution I am most

impressed by Sir Isaac Newton. Newton is important because he

contributed more to the development of science than any other person

in history. Isaac Newton is remembered as the greatest scientific

genius who ever lived. His discoveries about physics, light, and

mathematics changed the world. I am even more impressed by what he

overcame to reach his goals. He came to surpass even his own

expectations. I am more impressed with the man than with the

discoveries. So many people in history are viewed as larger than life,

which can be dehumanizing. Newton was very much a human with very

human emotions. Isaac Newton came from a family of farmers. His father

dies three months before he was born. Isaac's father was a wealthy

landowner but was uneducated and could not even sign his own name.

Isaac did not lead a privileged life; he was basically treated like an

orphan. Isaac had a very unhappy childhood. Isaac is only ten when his

grandfather, James, dies and James left him nothing in his will. There

is also no doubt that Isaac felt very bitter towards his mother and

stepfather. When he was reflecting on his sins at age 19 he wrote:

"Threatening my father and mother to burn them and the house over

them." Upon the death of his stepfather, Isaac lived with his extended

family including his mother, grandmother, half-brother and two

half-sisters. Shortly after this time Isaac began attending the Free

Grammar School in Garntham. His school reports described him as "idle"

and "inattentive". His mother, a lady of wealth and property, thought

that Isaac was the right person to manage h...

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...gnized as the greatest scientific book ever written.

Newton analyzed the motion of bodies in resisting and non-resisting

media under the action of centripetal-forces. The results were applied

to orbiting bodies, projectiles, pendulums, and free-fall near Earth.

He further demonstrated that the planets were attracted toward the Sun

by a force varying as the inverse square of the distance and

generalized that all heavenly bodies mutually attract one another. As

people came to understand the importance of his many discoveries Isaac

received many honors. In 1705, Queen Anne knighted him, Sir Isaac

Newton. It was the first knighthood for scientific discoveries rather

than deeds on the battlefield or in government. When Isaac Newton died

in 1727, the poor country boy from Woolsthorpe was buried in a plot

reserved for a king.