Isaac Newton Essays (1269 words) - Isaac Newton,

Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was a well-known English scientist. He accomplished a lot during his time and influenced the world a great deal. He is considered to have contributed more to science than any other person. His life can be divided into three periods. The first one was his early childhood, he second was the time of his accomplishments, and the third is his later life. Isaac Newton was born on December 25, 1642 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. His family was poor and his parents farmed for a living. His father died three months before he was born. His mother later remarried a minister and Newton went to stay with his grandmother. He attended a grammar school at the age of eleven, but did not do well. His teachers said that he did not pay attention. His mother then decided to pull him out of school and put him in charge of her properties. Newton decided that he did not want to do this, and, with the help of his uncle, Newton convinced his mother to let him return to school. Stokes, the headmaster of the school, saw that Newton had potential, therefore, he put extra time into tutoring, guiding and mentoring Newton (O'Connor & Robertson 1-2). Newton entered Cambridge College on June 5, 1661. He was older than most of the students there and entered as a sizar (a student who received money for college expenses in exchange for being a servant to other students). He wanted to major in law. At Cambridge he studied the philosophies of Aristotle and many other philosophist. During his third year he learned about the philosophies of Descartes, Gassending, but mostly of Boyle. He also read book about Copernicus and his relation to astronomy as well as Galileo and Kepler. Newton became fascinated by the ideas of these scientists. He began recording his thought in a book, which was called Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae. He received his bachelor's degree in April 1665 (O'Connor & Robertson 2-3). Newton made many accomplishments during his lifetime. His major accomplishments in the fields of math, physics, and optics are well known. For his accomplishment in math, he is considered to have invented Calculus. Although his works of Calculus were not published before a man name Leibniz, but Newton is still considered as the inventor of Calculus. Newton discovered the Binomial Theorem, which was used for fractional powers (Weinstein 2). He also developed many analytical ways to solve many problems such as: find areas, tangents, lengths of curves, and the maxima and minima of functions (O'Connor & Robertson 3). As mathematician, Newton and Leibniz invented differential calculus. He also calculated a formula for finding the velocity of sound in a gas, which was later corrected by Laplace (Chew 1). Newton made many contributions to the field of physics. He developed the three laws of motion. The first was the law of inertia. This law stated that objects in motion would continue to move in that direction at a constant velocity unless an outside force acts upon it. His second law stated that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Finally, his third law sate that forces causes masses to accelerate. As the acceleration increases the force increases as well. They are directly proportion to each other. Newton is considered to come up with the theory of universal gravitation. This is not totally true, but he did contribute to it. Newton made a huge impact on theoretical astronomy. He defined the laws of motion and universal gravitation, which he used to predict precisely the motions of stars, and the planets around the sun. Using his discoveries in optics Newton constructed the first reflecting telescope (Chew1). Other accomplishments that Newton made in the physics field was discovering the law about centrifugal force on body that is moving in a circular path. He did not totally understand the idea of circular motion. In 1666 Newton's main idea was that the Earth's gravity influenced the moon, therefore counterbalancing it's centrifugal force. From this and Kelpler's law of planetary motion, Newton came up with the inverse-square law (O'Connor & Robertson 5). Newton made many accomplishments to the physics field. Newton wrote many books during his