Isaac Newton Biography
Philosopher, Mathematician, Astronomer, Physicist, Scientist (1643–1727)
QUICK FACTS
NAME
Isaac Newton
OCCUPATION
Philosopher, Mathematician, Astronomer, Physicist, Scientist
BIRTH DATE
January 4, 1643
DEATH DATE
March 31, 1727
EDUCATION
University of Cambridge, Trinity College, The King's School
PLACE OF BIRTH
Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom
PLACE OF DEATH
London, England, United Kingdom
AKA
Isaac Newton
FULL NAME
Sir Isaac Newton
English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton, most famous for his law of gravitation,
was instrumental in the scientific revolution of the 17th century.
Isaac Newton - Modern Science (TV-PG; 01:58) A look at how Isaac Newton's research
influences the way we look at the world today.
Synopsis
Born on January 4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, England, Isaac Newton was an established physicist
and mathematician, and is credited as one of the great minds of the 17th century Scientific
Revolution. With discoveries in optics, motion and mathematics, Newton developed the
principles of modern physics. In 1687, he published his most acclaimed work, Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), which has
been called the single most influential book on physics. Newton died in London on March 31,
1727.
Early Life
On January 4, 1643, Isaac Newton was born in the hamlet of Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire,
England. He was the only son of a prosperous local farmer, also named Isaac Newton, who
died three months before he was born. A premature baby born tiny and weak, Newton was not
expected to survive. When he was 3 years old, his mother, Hannah Ayscough Newton,
remarried a well-to-do minister, Barnabas Smith, and went to live with him, leaving young
Newton with his maternal grandmother. The experience left an indelible imprint on Newton, later
manifesting itself as an acute sense of insecurity. He anxiously obsessed over his published
work, defending its merits with irrational behavior.
At age 12, Newton was reunited with his mother after her second husband died. She brought
along her three small children from her second marriage. Newton had been enrolled at the
King's School in Grantham, a town in Lincolnshire, where he lodged with a local apothecary and
was introduced to the fascinating world of chemistry. His mother pulled him out of school, for her
plan was to make him a farmer and have him tend the farm. Newton failed miserably, as he
found farming monotonous.
He soon was sent back to King's School to finish his basic education. Perhaps sensing the
young man's innate intellectual abilities, his uncle, a graduate of the University of Cambridge's
Trinity College, persuaded Newton's mother to have him enter the university. Newton enrolled in
a program similar to a work-study in 1661, and subsequently waited on tables and took care of
wealthier students' rooms.
When Newton arrived at Cambridge, the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century was already in
full force. The heliocentric view of the universe—theorized by astronomers Nicolaus Copernicus
and Johannes Kepler, and later refined by Galileo—was well known in most European
academic circles. Philosopher René Descartes had begun to formulate a new concept of nature
as an intricate, impersonal and inert machine. Yet, like most universities in Europe, Cambridge
was steeped in Aristotelian philosophy and a view of nature resting on a geocentric view of the
universe, dealing with nature in qualitative rather than quantitative terms.
During his first three years at Cambridge, Newton was taught the standard curriculum but was
fascinated with the more advanced science. All his spare time was spent reading from the
modern philosophers. The result was a less-than-stellar performance, but one that is
understandable, given his dual course of study. It was during this time that Newton kept a
second set of notes, entitled "Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae" ("Certain Philosophical Qu
