Presentation about Sir Isaac Newton : his life, his works,...

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

2. Early LifeEarly Life
► Born on December 25,Born on December 25,
1642 (January 4,1642 (January 4,
1643) in Woolsthorpe,1643) in Woolsthorpe,
Lincolnshire, EnglandLincolnshire, England
► Raised by hisRaised by his
grandparentsgrandparents
► Pulled out of school atPulled out of school at
14 to run the family14 to run the family
farmfarm
► Wasn’t good atWasn’t good at
farming, so they sentfarming, so they sent
him back to schoolhim back to school

3. EducationEducation
► Entered Trinity CollegeEntered Trinity College
at Cambridge Universityat Cambridge University
at age 18 and beganat age 18 and began
studying to become astudying to become a
ministerminister
► Graduated at age 23Graduated at age 23
► Returned to the farmReturned to the farm
because of the Blackbecause of the Black
DeathDeath
 He got bored and endedHe got bored and ended
up working on theup working on the
binomial theorem, light,binomial theorem, light,
telescopes, calculus, andtelescopes, calculus, and
theologytheology
Newton in about 1702

4. CalculusCalculus
► Started developing Calculus asStarted developing Calculus as
early as 1666 but never reallyearly as 1666 but never really
got around to publishing muchgot around to publishing much
► In about 1668, Wilhelm LeibnizIn about 1668, Wilhelm Leibniz
began developing very similarbegan developing very similar
ideas and published themideas and published them
before Newton has publishedbefore Newton has published
his workhis work
► (Leibniz used dy/dx notation;(Leibniz used dy/dx notation;
Newton used )ẏNewton used )ẏ
Post-Modern Newton

5. ““Opticks”Opticks”
► Discovered that light is madeDiscovered that light is made
up of a spectrum of colorsup of a spectrum of colors
► Made the first telescope thatMade the first telescope that
used a curved mirror instead ofused a curved mirror instead of
lenseslenses
► Believed that light was madeBelieved that light was made
up of “corpuscles” rather thanup of “corpuscles” rather than
waves (Hooke and Huygenswaves (Hooke and Huygens
disagreed)disagreed)
► Didn’t publish any of this untilDidn’t publish any of this until
the after the death of Hooke inthe after the death of Hooke in
17031703
Newton in the Lab

7. Apples and StuffApples and Stuff
► FormulatedFormulated
Newton’s LawsNewton’s Laws
► Proved that the forceProved that the force
of gravity is inverselyof gravity is inversely
proportional toproportional to
distance squareddistance squared
► After conqueringAfter conquering
gravity, motion andgravity, motion and
optics, decided tooptics, decided to
work on changingwork on changing
lead into goldlead into gold

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

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

10. ““If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it hasIf I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has
been owing more to patient attention, than to anybeen owing more to patient attention, than to any
other talent.”other talent.”
-Sir Isaac Newton-Sir Isaac Newton