By Will Buchholz
Ellsworth High School
Calculus Class
Dec. 2001
Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 in Woolsthorpe, Linconshire, England. Newton came from a family of farmers. He never knew his father, also named Isaac Newton who died in October 1642 (three months before his son was born), who was very wealthy farmer whom owned many properties and livestock. Despite the wealth Newton was completely uneducated and could not sign his won name. Isaac's mother, Hannah Ayscough, remarried with another man when Newton was two years old. Leaving Newton to his grandmother, Margery Ayscough, Newton was basically treated as an orphan. Newton's childhood was very bitter experience. Until the death of his stepfather in 1653, Newton lived with the extended family consisting of his grandmother, half brother, and two sisters. At age 10, Newton started his first schooling away from home, in a town about 5 miles away. He never showed much promise in school and was reported to be "idle" and "inattentive". After finishing school there he entered Trinity College Cambridge on June 5, 1661. While there he studied for a law degree, then moved to studying philosophy. He studied Descartes, Gassendi, Hobbes, Galileo, and Aristotle. While studying them he wrote a book of notes called Queaestiones Quaeddam Philosophicae (Certain Philosophical Questions).
It was shortly later that he was introduced into advanced mathematics. He became interested in mathematics simply because at first he did not understand it. In 1669 Newton gave his Trinity mathematics professor Isaac Barrow and important writing, which is generally known by its shortened Latin title, De Analysi. This work contained many of Newton's conclusions about conclusions about calculus (what Newton called his "fluxional method"). Although the paper was not immediately published, Barrow made its results known to several of the mathematicians of Britain and Europe. This paper established Newton as one of the top mathematicians of his day and as the founder of modern calculus (along with Leibniz). Calculus addresses such concepts as the rate of change of a certain quantity, the slope of a curve at given point, the computation of maximum and minimum values of functions, and the calculation of areas bounded by curves. When Barrow retired in 1669, he suggested to the college that Newton succeed him. Newton became the new professor of mathematics and chose optics as the subject of his first course of lectures.
Later in 1687 Newton published his seminal work Philosophiae Naturalis Principa Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Nature Philosophy). This contains the most known of Newton's work, his laws of motion and theory of gravity. Newton's work greatly influenced the development of physical sciences. During the two centuries following publication of the Principia, scientist and philosophers found many new areas in which they applied Newton's methods of inquiry and analysis. Much of this expansion arose as a consequence of the Principia. Scientists did not see the need for revision of some of Newton's conclusions until the early 20th century. This reassessment of Newton's ideas about the universe led to the modern theory of relativity and quantum theory, which deals with the special cases of physics involving high speeds and physics of very small dimensions. Besides his scientific work, Newton left substantial writings on theology, chronology, alchemy, and chemistry.
In 1725 Newton moved from London to Kensington (then a village outside London) for health reasons. He died there on March 20, 1727. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Bibliography
Encarta 2000
http://www-history.mcsst-and.acuk/~history/PictDisplay/Newton.html