An Englishman, whom many consider to be the greatest scientist of all times. Born into a family of small landed nobles in the vicinity of Woolsthorpe (Lincolnshire, England). I did not find my father alive (he died three months before the birth of his son). Having remarried, her mother left two-year-old Isaac in the care of his grandmother. Many researchers of his biography attribute the peculiar eccentric behavior of an already adult scientist to the fact that until the age of nine, when his stepfather died, the boy was completely deprived of parental care.
For some time young Isaac studied the wisdom agriculture at a vocational school. As often happens with later great people, there are still a lot of legends about his eccentricities in that early period of his life. So, in particular, they say that one day he was sent to pasture to guard the cattle, which had safely scattered in an unknown direction, while the boy was sitting under a tree and enthusiastically reading a book that interested him. Whether this is true or not, the teenager’s thirst for knowledge was soon noticed - and he was sent back to the Grantham gymnasium, after which the young man successfully entered Trinity College, Cambridge University.
Newton quickly mastered curriculum and proceeded to study the works of leading scientists of that time, in particular the followers of the French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650), who adhered to mechanistic views of the Universe. In the spring of 1665, he received a bachelor's degree - and then the most incredible events in the history of science happened. In the same year, the last epidemic of bubonic plague broke out in England, funeral bells were increasingly tolled, and the University of Cambridge was closed. Newton returned to Woolsthorpe for almost two years, taking with him only a few books and his remarkable intellect to boot.
When Cambridge University reopened two years later, Newton had already (1) developed differential calculus, a separate branch of mathematics, (2) laid out the foundations modern theory colors, (3) deduced the law of universal gravitation and (4) solved several mathematical problems that no one had been able to solve before him. As Newton himself said, “In those days I was in the prime of my inventive powers, and Mathematics and Philosophy have never since captivated me so much as then.” (I often ask my students, telling them once again about Newton’s achievements: “What You did you manage to do it during the summer holidays?”)
Soon after returning to Cambridge, Newton was elected to the academic council of Trinity College, and his statue still adorns the university church. He gave a course of lectures on color theory, in which he showed that color differences are explained by the basic characteristics of the light wave (or, as they now say, wavelength) and that light has a corpuscular nature. He also designed a reflecting telescope, and this invention brought him to the attention of the Royal Society. Many years of research into light and color were published in 1704 in his fundamental work Optics ( Optics).
Newton's advocacy of the “wrong” theory of light (wave concepts dominated at that time) led to a conflict with Robert Hooke ( cm. Hooke's Law), head of the Royal Society. In response, Newton proposed a hypothesis that combined corpuscular and wave concepts of light. Hooke accused Newton of plagiarism and made claims to priority in this discovery. The conflict continued until Hooke's death in 1702 and left such a depressing impression on Newton that he withdrew from intellectual life for six years. However, some psychologists of that time attributed this to a nervous disorder that worsened after the death of his mother.
In 1679, Newton returned to work and gained fame by studying the trajectories of the planets and their satellites. As a result of these studies, also accompanied by disputes with Hooke about priority, the law was formulated universal gravity and Newton's laws of mechanics, as we now call them. Newton summarized his research in the book “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” ( Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica), presented to the Royal Society in 1686 and published a year later. This work, which marked the beginning of the then scientific revolution, brought Newton worldwide recognition.
His religious views and his strong commitment to Protestantism also attracted the attention of Newton among wide circles of the English intellectual elite, and especially the philosopher John Locke (1632-1704). Spending more and more time in London, Newton became involved in the political life of the capital and in 1696 was appointed Warden of the Mint. Although this position had traditionally been considered a sinecure, Newton approached his work with the utmost seriousness, considering the recoinage of English coins as an effective measure in the fight against counterfeiters. It was at this time that Newton was involved in another priority dispute, this time with Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716), over the discovery of differential calculus. At the end of his life, Newton published new editions of his major works, and also served as President of the Royal Society, while holding the life-long position of Director of the Mint.
😉 Greetings to regular readers and guests of the site! The article “Isaac Newton: biography, facts” is about the life of the English mathematician, physicist, alchemist and historian. Along with Galileo, Newton is considered the founder modern science.
Biography of Isaac Newton
Isaac was born into a farmer's family on January 4, 1643. A few months before his birth, his father died. Mother trying to arrange personal life, moved to another town, leaving her little son with his grandmother in the village of Woolsthorpe.
The absence of parents will affect the character of the little genius: he will become silent and withdrawn. All his life he felt lonely, never married and did not have his own family.
After studying at elementary school, the young man continued his studies at school in Grantham. He lived in the house of the pharmacist Clark, where the guy developed an interest in studying chemistry.
At the age of 19 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge University. The talented student was very poor, so he had to serve as a servant in college to pay for his education. Newton's teacher was the famous mathematician Isaac Barrow.
Woolsthorpe
After graduating from the university, Isaac Newton received a bachelor's degree in 1665. But in the same year, a plague epidemic struck England and Isaac had to return to his native village of Woolsthorpe.
Woolsthorpe. The house where Newton was born and lived
The young man was in no hurry to engage in village farming, and quickly received the label of a lazy person from his neighbors. People did not understand why a grown boy would throw stones and twirl glass in his hands.
It was during this period that his ideas were born most major discoveries in mathematics and physics, which led him to the creation of differential and integral calculus, to the invention of the reflecting telescope, the discovery of the law of universal gravitation, here he also conducted experiments on the decomposition of light.
Cambridge
He returned to Cambridge only two years later, and not empty-handed. Soon the young man receives a master's degree and begins teaching at a college. And a year later, Professor of Mathematics Newton will head the physics and mathematics department.
The brilliant scientist continues his experiments in optics. In 1671, he designed the first reflecting telescope, which impressed not only scientists, but also the king. This paved the way for the physicist to join the English Academy of Sciences.
Newton worked at the university and worked on studying the laws of motion and the structure of the universe. “Mathematical principles of natural philosophy” (briefly “Principles”) is the main work of his life.
“Principles” combined different sciences. Fundamentals of mechanics in a classical form. Theoretical view of movement celestial bodies. An explanation of the ebb and flow of the tides and a scientific forecast for several centuries to come.
Newton was an ambitious scientist. A real dispute arose between him and the Saxon scientist about the right of the discoverer in the field of differential and integral calculus. The controversy dragged on for many years. Newton did not hesitate to insult his colleague.
London
When the scientist was appointed caretaker of the state mint, he moved to London.
The coinage business, under his leadership, was put in order. He was awarded the prestigious title of master. This forever put an end to the scientist’s cramped financial situation, however, it alienated him from science.
Newton was elected a member of the Royal Society of London, which he headed in 1703, becoming its president. He served in this post for a quarter of a century.
Sir Newton
In 1705, another memorable event occurred. Queen Anne knighted Newton. Now the honorary scientist had to be called “Sir”.
So, a boy whose fate was written to be a farmer, not in the best health, became a great scientist, recognized quite early, and lived 83 years. The great scientist was buried in Westminster Abbey. His zodiac sign is Capricorn.
Isaac Newton: short biography(video)
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/brief historical perspective/
The greatness of a true scientist is not in the titles and awards with which he is marked or awarded by the world community, and not even in the recognition of his services to Humanity, but in those discoveries and theories that he left to the World. Unique discoveries made during our bright life, the famous scientist Isaac Newton is difficult to overestimate or underestimate.
Theories and discoveries
Isaac Newton formulated the basic laws of classical mechanics, was open law of universal gravitation, theory developed movements of celestial bodies, created fundamentals of celestial mechanics.
Isaac Newton(independently of Gottfried Leibniz) created theory of differential and integral calculus, opened light dispersion, chromatic aberration, studied interference and diffraction, developed corpuscular theory of light, gave a hypothesis that combined corpuscular And wave representations, built mirror telescope.
Space and Time Newton considered absolute.
Historical formulations of Newton's laws of mechanics
Newton's first law
Every body continues to be maintained in a state of rest or uniform and rectilinear motion until and unless it is forced by applied forces to change this state.
Newton's second law
In the inertial reference frame, the acceleration received material point, directly proportional to the resultant of all forces applied to it and inversely proportional to its mass.
The change in momentum is proportional to the applied driving force and occurs in the direction of the straight line along which this force acts.
Newton's third law
An action always has an equal and opposite reaction, otherwise the interactions of two bodies on each other are equal and directed in opposite directions.
Some of Newton's contemporaries considered him alchemist. He was the director of the Mint, established the coin business in England, and headed the society Prior-Zion, studied the chronology of ancient kingdoms. He devoted several theological works (mostly unpublished) to the interpretation of biblical prophecies.
Newton's works
– « New theory light and flowers", 1672 (communication to the Royal Society)
– “Motion of bodies in orbit” (lat. De Motu Corporum in Gyrum), 1684
– “Mathematical principles of natural philosophy” (lat. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica), 1687
- “Optics or a treatise on the reflections, refractions, bendings and colors of light” (eng. Opticks or a treatise of the reflections, refractions, inflections and colors of light), 1704
– “On the quadrature of curves” (lat. Tractatus de quadratura curvarum), supplement to "Optics"
– “Enumeration of lines of the third order” (lat. Enumeratio linearum tertii ordinis), supplement to "Optics"
– “Universal arithmetic” (lat. Arithmetica Universalis), 1707
– “Analysis using equations with an infinite number of terms” (lat. De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas), 1711
– “Method of Differences”, 1711
According to scientists around the world, Newton's work was significantly ahead of the general scientific level of his time and was poorly understood by his contemporaries. However, Newton himself said about himself: “ I don’t know how the world perceives me, but to myself I seem to be only a boy playing on the seashore, who amuses himself by occasionally finding a pebble more colorful than the others, or a beautiful shell, while the great ocean of truth spreads out before me. unexplored by me. »
But according to the conviction of no less a great scientist, A. Einstein “ Newton was the first to try to formulate elementary laws, which determine the time course of a wide class of processes in nature with high degree completeness and accuracy" and “... with his works had a deep and strong influence on the entire worldview as a whole. »
Newton's grave bears the following inscription:
“Here lies Sir Isaac Newton, the nobleman who, with an almost divine mind, was the first to prove with the torch of mathematics the motion of the planets, the paths of comets and the tides of the oceans. He investigated the differences in light rays and the various properties of colors that appeared thereby, which no one had previously suspected. A diligent, wise and faithful interpreter of nature, antiquity and Holy Scripture, he affirmed with his philosophy the greatness of Almighty God, and with his disposition he expressed evangelical simplicity. Let mortals rejoice that such an adornment of the human race existed. »
Prepared Lazarus Model.
The English scientist Isaac Newton made an invaluable contribution to natural science and became famous in history as outstanding physicist, who made many discoveries that significantly influenced the development of science. In addition, Newton was interested in mathematics, mechanics and astronomy.
Today, the laws discovered by Isaac Newton still remain relevant and are necessarily studied within the framework of school course physics.
Life path
Isaac Newton lived a long and eventful life. His life path began on December 25, 1642, when he was born in the village of Woolsthorpe, lost in the vastness of Lincolnshire in the eastern part of England. His father, a landowner, was dead at that time and all responsibilities for raising the boy fell on the shoulders of his wealthy mother.
As a child, Newton was reclusive and had a gloomy character. Newton's favorite pastime at this age was reading literature, but he also did not miss the opportunity construct something primitive from scrap materials.
At the age of 12, his mother sent Newton to Grantham School. Initially, he was a mediocre student, but after being beaten by a stronger peer, he received moral trauma, which led to a sharp increase in mental effort and a desire to become the best student.
Newton's natural abilities contributed to this and soon he became best student, which the teachers paid attention to. In 1659, Newton had to return home to farm because his mother needed help.
In 1661, Isaac Newton entered the University of Cambridge, where he studied science intensively. In 1663, after listening to Professor Barrow's lectures, Newton developed an increased interest in mathematics and even discovered his own method.
Newton successfully graduated from the university, receiving a bachelor's degree. At the age of 26, he was offered a job as a mathematics professor, which he readily accepted. This became his main profession for 27 long years and opened up scope for scientific research. It was then that Newton was able to make his discoveries, which later played huge role in science.
In 1689, Newton was invited to parliament, which overthrew the Stuarts. Politics was not to Newton’s taste, and a year later he headed the London Mint, remaining in this position for 32 years. The last years were happy for the scientist, because he had a stable and large income, was respected in society and was surrounded by a large number of educated people and scientists who listened to Newton and were inspired to carry out their own scientific research.
Having devoted his life to science, Newton never married. My niece took care of the household affairs in London. The outstanding scientist died on March 20, 1727, but he his name and works still live in the physical and mathematical sciences.
Scientific research
Isaac Newton's most famous discoveries are:
- law of universal gravitation;
- three laws of mechanics;
- method of "fluxion calculus".
Initially, Isaac Newton had an interest in astronomy and set himself the goal of solving certain astronomical problems that were unsolvable. As a result, the fluxion calculus method was invented, which made it possible to carry out mathematical calculations.
In parallel with Newton, the German scientist Gottfried Leibniz used a similar method. It’s just that the Englishman used the open method exclusively for personal purposes and made it public only a few years later. This caused controversy between German and English scientists about who first discovered the method.
Newton was not particularly concerned about the controversy and continued to conduct research. The main goal of a scientist, inspiring him to scientific discoveries, is a comprehension of the reasons from which certain natural phenomena arise, as well as the patterns of their action.
Newton tried to explain the phenomena with scientific point vision and used mathematical formulas for this. The first area of research was optics, in which the properties of light were studied. The researcher found that light is a subtle substance that obeys the laws of mechanics. As a result, the theory was discovered which defined light as the movement of matter in a wave-like manner.
The most important discovery in the field of astronomy is the law of universal gravitation. At that time, scientists had already established that the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun, but could not understand the reasons for this. Newton was able to discover the phenomenon of gravity and successfully prove its existence. According to some legends, he was prompted to do this by an apple falling on his head, but in fact, the law was discovered through intensive research.
The laws discovered in the field of mechanics also deserve special attention. Every schoolchild memorizes Newton's three laws by heart.
Isaac Newton dedicated his life to science and his name continues to live.
Sir Isaac Newton is an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, creator of classical mechanics, who made the greatest scientific discoveries in the history of mankind.
Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 (Gregorian calendar) in the village of Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire. He received his name in honor of his father, who died 3 months before the birth of his son. Three years later, Isaac's mother, Anna Ayscough, remarried. Three more children were born into the new family. Isaac Newton was taken into the care of his uncle, William Ayscough.
Childhood
The house where Newton was born
Isaac grew up withdrawn and silent. He preferred reading to communicating with his peers. He loved making technical toys: kites, windmills, water clocks.
At the age of 12, Newton began attending school in Grantham. He lived at that time in the house of the pharmacist Clark. Persistence and hard work soon made Newton the best student in his class. But when Newton was 16 years old, his stepfather died. Isaac's mother brought him back to the estate and assigned him household responsibilities. But Newton did not like this at all. He did little housekeeping, preferring reading to this boring activity. One day Newton's uncle, finding him with a book in his hands, was amazed to see that Newton was solving math problem. Both uncle and school teacher, convinced Newton’s mother that such a capable young man should continue his studies.
Trinity College
Trinity College
In 1661, 18-year-old Newton was enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge University, as a sizar student. Such students were not charged tuition fees. They had to pay their tuition by doing various jobs at the University or serving wealthy students.
In 1664, Newton passed the exams, became a schoolboy (scholars) and began to receive a scholarship.
Newton studied, forgetting about sleep and rest. He studied mathematics, astronomy, optics, phonetics, music theory.
In March 1663, the department of mathematics was opened at the college. It was headed by Isaac Barrow, a mathematician, future teacher and friend of Newton. In 1664 Newton discovered binomial expansion for arbitrary rational indicator . This was Newton's first mathematical discovery. Newton would later discover mathematical method expansion of a function into an infinite series. At the end of 1664 he received his bachelor's degree.
Newton studied the works of physicists: Galileo, Descartes, Kepler. Based on their theories, he created universal world system.
Newton’s programmatic phrase: “In philosophy there can be no sovereign except truth...”. Is this where the famous expression came from: “Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer”?
Years of the Great Plague Epidemic
The years 1665 to 1667 were the period of the Great Plague. Classes at Trinity College ceased and Newton went to Woolsthorpe. He took all his notebooks and books with him. During these difficult “plague years,” Newton did not stop studying science. Carrying out various optical experiments, Newton proved that white color is a mixture of all colors of the spectrum. Law of Gravity- This greatest discovery Newton, made by him in the “plague years”. Newton finally formulated this law only after the discovery of the laws of mechanics. And these discoveries were published only decades later.
Scientific discoveries
Newton's telescope
At the beginning of 1672, the Royal Society demonstrated reflecting telescope, which made Newton famous. Newton became a member of the Royal Society.
In 1686 Newton formulated three laws of mechanics, described the orbits of celestial bodies: hyperbolic and parabolic, proved that the Sun also obeys general laws movements. All this was set out in the first volume of Mathematical Principles.
In 1669, Newton's world system began to be taught at Cambridge and Oxford. Newton also becomes a foreign member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. In the same year, Newton was appointed manager of the Mint. He leaves Cambridge for London.
In 1669 Newton was elected to parliament. He stayed there for only a year. But in 1701 he was elected there again. That same year, Newton resigned as professor at Trinity College.
In 1703, Newton became president of the Royal Society and remained in this position until the end of his life.
In 1704, the monograph “Optics” was published. And in 1705, Isaac Newton was awarded the title of knight for scientific achievements. This happened for the first time in the history of England.
The famous collection of lectures on algebra, published in 1707 and called “Universal Arithmetic,” laid the foundation for the birth numerical analysis.
IN recent years During his life, he wrote the “Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms” and prepared a reference book on comets. Newton very accurately calculated the orbit of Halley's comet.
Isaac Newton died in 1727 in Kensington near London. Buried in Westminster Abbey.
Newton's discoveries allowed humanity to make a giant leap in the development of mathematics, astronomy, and physics.
