The Contributions of Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton was born in 1642 in England. He was born in Lincolnshire on Christmas Day. Newton's father died three months before he was born, and his mother remarried a wealthy clergyman when he was three, leaving him to live with his grandmother. Eight years later the clergyman died and Isaac's mother came back. Two years after that, Newton went to Grammar School in Grantham, and began to find himself fascinated with chemicals.

After his grammar school, he was supposed to come back and take care of the farm, however, it turned out that he was a lousy farmer. It was then decided that it would be good for him to go to university, so he enrolled in 1661 at Trinity College, Cambridge. He paid his first three years by doing odd jobs, but in 1664 he was elected a scholar, which guaranteed him four years of financial support. However, in 1665 the plague was spreading across Europe, and caused the university to close.

During this time Newton went home and began to look at problems concerning mathematics and physics. It was during this summer that be first began to understand the theory of gravitation and the theory of optics. He also developed many ideas about integral and differential calculus, however, he was always very reluctant to print anything publicly.

After he spent two years away from Cambridge, he returned in 1667, and he began to work on alchemy. However, in 1668 Micolas Mercator published a book containing some of the methods for dealing with infinite series, after which, Newton published his own book, De Analysi, that showed his more extensive understanding in the area and wider ranging results.This was a breakthrough for Newton into the world of mathematician, as he was now known for his abilities in the area.

Newton's first design and invention that made him well known, was his construction of a reflecting telescope. He built it entirely by himself by grounding the mirror, building the tube, and even the tools that were used in the construction. The mirror gave a different effect than the larger lenses did in that it focused at colors from slightly different distances. This effect is known as chromatic aberration. Mirrors are still used today in large telescopes.

As time moved on Newton became interested in theology, and he was convinced that Christianity had veered from the original teachings of Christ. He found himself unable to believe in the followings of the Church of England.