To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.

Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, to a widowed mother on January 4, 1643. ( lthou!h some sources state Newton was born "hristmas #ay, 164$.% &is 'ather, a wealthy 'armer, had died three months be'ore. When Isaac was three years old his mother remarried a prosperous cler!yman and mo(ed, lea(in! him in the care o' his !randmother. )arly in Isaac*s li'e it was e+pected that he would loo, a'ter the 'arm, but he 'ailed miserably at it and in 1661 went to uni(ersity at -rinity "olle!e, "ambrid!e. .y cleanin! rooms and waitin! tables, Newton was able to pay his way throu!h colle!e 'or the 'irst three years, until in 1664 he was elected a scholar which !uaranteed 'our years o' 'inancial support. Isaac Newton would continue to learn and e+periment and ma,e many ma/or disco(ers 'or the ne+t si+ty years until his death on 0arch $1, 12$2. The Telescope 3ne o' Newton*s 'irst public scienti'ic achie(ements was the re'lectin! telescope. &e in(ented, desi!ned and constructed it all on his own. #urin! Newton*s time, the standard telescope was the re'ractin! telescope, and it was not ideal. -he re'ractin! telescope wor,ed by usin! !lass lenses to 'ocus on the di''erent colors inherent in li!ht at di''erent distances. .ut this resulted in some ob/ects bein! out o' 'ocus because at the ed!es o' any bri!ht ob/ect would show colored 'rin!es in an e''ect ,nown as 4chromatic aberration.5 Newton sol(ed this problem by usin! mirrors in place o' lenses. &is new

telescope not only !ot rid o' the colored 'rin!es but also ma!ni'ied the 'ocused ob/ect by 'orty times. Light, olor, and !ptics round the same time as his wor, on telescopes, Newton be!an e+perimentin! with li!ht and prisms, bein! !uided and inspired initially by the wor, o' 6epler and #escartes. &e theori7ed that (isible li!ht was hetero!eneous and secondary and was composed o' homo!eneous, primary colors. -his was contrary to the wor, o' older scientists li,e ristotle, so to pro(e it he set up an e+periment called 4the eperimentum crucis (the crucial e+periment.% -he e+periment in(ol(ed allowin! a small beam o' li!ht to come into a dar, room throu!h a narrow hole and pass throu!h a prism. -he prism would brea, up the white li!ht into the primary colors that comprised it and pro/ect them onto an oblon! spectrum on a board. 'ter that, you could select any o' the separated colors and try to pass it thou!h a second prism, only to 'ind that it could not be separated anymore. -he selected beam remained the same color, and its an!le o' re'raction was constant throu!hout. -hus Newton stated that (isible li!ht is a 4hetero!eneous mi+ture o' di''erently re'ran!ible rays.5 &e also stated that the colors o' the spectrum cannot be chan!ed or modi'ied and were ori!inal and connate properties. 8inally, in 1214 Newton published The !ptic"s, which summari7ed his 'indin!s on color and li!ht. Newtonian #echanics Newton had published a pre(ious boo, in July 1692. It was called The $rincipia and it was personally 'inanced by )dmond &alley, whom Newton had helped with the mathematics o' &alley*s "omet. The $rincipia is di(ided into three boo,s and contains some o' Newton*s most important theories and disco(eries, includin! Newton*s -hree

Laws o' 0otion. -he three laws o' motion state (1% Law of Inertia% )(ery body continues in its state o' rest, or uni'orm motion in a strai!ht line, unless it is compelled to chan!e that state by 'orces impressed on it ($% Law of &cceleration: 8orce is e;ual to the chan!e in momentum per chan!e in time. (3% Law of &ction and 'eaction% 8or e(ery action there is an e;ual and opposite reaction. -hese laws are important because they !o(ern e(ery day li'e around us. -hey are why buildin!s stay standin!, how trains wor,, how water 'lows, etc. -he three laws o' motion also laid the !roundwor, 'or modern mechanics, which underpinned the Industrial <e(olution and the ad(ancement o' modern industry. Newton also de(ised the Law o' =ni(ersal >ra(itation. -his stated that 4e(ery ob/ect in the uni(erse attracts e(ery other ob/ect with a 'orce directed alon! the line o' centers 'or the two ob/ects that is proportional to the product o' their masses and in(ersely proportional to the s;uare o' the separation between the two ob/ects.5 It is e+pressed mathematically by the 'ormula 8? > 0m@<$. -he law e+plained many thin!s 'rom why an apple 'ell 'rom a tree, to the orbits o' the comets and planets, to the in'luence o' the moon and sun on the tides here on )arth. It was the accepted description o' terrestrial and celestial mechanics 'or two hundred years until )instein*s theory o' relati(ity.

To me there has never been a higher source of earthly honor or distinction than that connected with advances in science. Isaac Newton