Isaac Newton was an English mathematician and philosopher born in 1642 and died in 1727. He is renowned for his laws of motion and universal law of gravitation. Some of his major achievements include designing and building an advanced reflecting telescope and establishing his three laws of motion. Newton realized that the same gravitational forces that cause objects to fall also explain the moon's orbit around Earth. He is quoted as saying "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."