1. Sir Isaac “Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night God said ‘Let Newton be!’ And all was light.” - Alexander Pope Newton

2. His Formative Years Born on December 25, 1642 (January 4, 1643) in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England Raised by his grandparents Pulled out of school at 14 to run the family farm Wasn’t good at farming, so they sent him back to school The Newton residence, circa 1689

3. Schooling ► Entered Trinity College at Cambridge University at age 18 and began studying to become a minister ► Graduated at age 23 ► Returned to the farm because of the Black Death  He got bored and ended up working on the binomial theorem, light, telescopes, calculus, and theology Newton in about 1702

4. The Principia 1687

5. What’s in the Principia? ► The Principia states Newton's laws of motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics, also Newton's law of universal gravitation, and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion (which Kepler first obtained empirically). The Principia is "justly regarded as one of the most important works in the history of science". Newton's laws of motion classical mechanics Newton's law of universal gravitationKepler's laws of planetary motion empirically Newton's laws of motion classical mechanics Newton's law of universal gravitationKepler's laws of planetary motion empirically ► In formulating his physical theories, Newton developed and used mathematical methods now included in the field of calculus. But the language of calculus as we know it was largely absent from the Principia; Newton gave many of his proofs in a geometric form of infinitesimal calculus, based on limits of ratios of vanishing small geometric quantities. calculus geometric infinitesimal calculus

6. Was the Principia important ? ► The French mathematical physicist Alexis Clairaut assessed it in 1747: "The famous book of mathematical Principles of natural Philosophy marked the epoch of a great revolution in physics. The method followed by its illustrious author Sir Newton... spread the light of mathematics on a science which up to then had remained in the darkness of conjectures and hypotheses." [6] A more recent assessment has been that while acceptance of Newton's theories was not immediate, by the end of a century after publication in 1687, "no one could deny that" (out of the Principia) "a science had emerged that, at least in certain respects, so far exceeded anything that had ever gone before that it stood alone as the ultimate exemplar of science generally." Alexis Clairaut [6]Alexis Clairaut [6]

7. Calculus ► Started developing Calculus as early as 1666 but never really got around to publishing much ► In about 1668, Wilhelm Leibniz began developing very similar ideas and published them before Newton’s published his work ► Arguing ensued ► (Leibniz used dy/dx notation; Newton used ẏ) Post-Modern Newton

8. Opticks ► Discovered that light is made up of a spectrum of colors ► Made the first telescope that used a curved mirror instead of lenses ► Believed that light was made up of “corpuscles” rather than waves (Hooke and Huygens disagreed) ► Didn’t publish any of this until the after the death of Hooke in 1703 Newton in the Lab

10. Apples and Stuff ► Formulated Newton’s Laws ► Proved that the force of gravity is inversely proportional to distance squared ► After conquering gravity, motion and optics, decided to work on changing lead into gold

11. Religious Views ► Wrote a book about the fall of Christianity in the 4 th Century A.D. ► “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being... This Being governs all things... as Lord of all... Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.” ► His religious ideas got him in trouble because he taught at a church-run university

12. Newtonian Trivia ► Became Master of the Royal Mint in 1699 ► First scientist to be knighted for his work (1708) ► Elected President of the Royal Society every year from 1703 to 1727 ► Member of Parliament (1689- 1690) ► Died in 1727 Newton in 1726

13. “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” - Isaac Newton