Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)

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Biography

Isaac Newton is Notable.

Isaac Newton was born in Lincolnshire, England.

Isaac Newton was born 25 December 1642 at Woolsthorpe by Colsterworth in the Colsterworth, Lincolnshire England. He was the only child of:

• Isaac Newton (baptised 21 September 1606 at Colsterworth - buried 06 October 1642 Colsterworth), son of Robert Newton of Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire.^[1][2]
• and Hannah Ayscough the daughter of James Ayscough of Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire and Margery Blythe, daughter of William Blyth of Stroxton, Lincolnshire.^[2][3][4]
  

Isaac's parents were probably married in April 1642 (or before). His father died in the October (buried 6 October 1642) just three months before Newton was born on 25 December 1642 at Woolsthorpe manor.^[2]This property had been purchased by Newton's paternal great-great-grandfather, John Newton of Westby, Lincolnshire (bur. 22 Dec 1563 Westby).^[1][5]The young Isaac was baptised s/o Isaac & Hannah Newton on the 1st of January 1642/3 at Colsterthorpe (so recorded although his father was deceased)^[6]

In 1646, Isaac Newton's mother remarried to Barnabas Smith, Rector of Witham, Lincolnshire^[2][7]while Newton was left in the care of his maternal grandmother Margaret (Blyth) Ayscough (abt.1590-aft.1657) at Woolsthorpe.^[2][8][9]

From his mother's second marriage, Isaac had three half-siblings, who were all named in the will of his maternal grandfather, James Ayscough:^[2][3]

1. Benjamin Smith.^[3]
2. Mary Smith.^[3]
3. Hannah Smith^[3]

Isaac was swiftly passed to the care of his maternal grandmother Margaret (Blyth) Ayscough (abt.1590-aft.1657) and it is said that he did not get to know his own mother until he was much older.

Education

Newton began his education at local schools, then attended Grantham grammar school (about 8 miles North of his home). His youthful inventions include a small windmill ^[10], a clock run by water ^[11]and a sundial.^[12]

Late in 1659, near the age of seventeen, his mother called him home from school to take charge of her considerable estate. The experiment was a disaster. He wanted none of it. He had discovered the world of learning, and there his heart lay.

Isaac was sent to Cambridge by his maternal uncle, William Ayscough, Rector of Burton Coggles, Lincolnshire. He was admitted to Trinity College in June 1661. He graduated in 1665 but was not an exceptional student.

He was probably at Woolsthope during the plague in 1665-66. It was around this time when he discovered "gravitational attraction."

During the 1660s he began a series of experiments with sunlight and prisms. He demonstrated that clear white light is composed of seven visible colors.

In 1667, he returned to Cambridge to teach, and became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics en.wikipedia.org in the University of Cambridge in 1669. He later invented calculus to explain motion.

His theories made no significant impact until 1684 when the English astronomer Edmond Halley, asked him for assistance to explain the motion of planets around the sun. Halley, however, found that Newton already had a solution, so the astronomer put aside his work to publish Newton's discoveries.

In 1687 Newton's discoveries on the laws of motion and theories of gravitation were published in "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), or "Principia."^[13]This book has been considered one of the greatest single contributions in the history of science and laid the foundations of classical mechanics.

Newton's discoveries in optics were equally great. His work on light was collected in his highly influential book "Opticks".^[14]First published in 1704, it laid out the foundation of spectrum analysis and explained why objects are perceived to have color. In 1668 he had constructed the first reflecting telescope, and then in 1671 he built an improved second model of the reflecting telescope.^[15][16]Later that same year Newton had been requested to send his telescope to the Royal Society to be examined. Newton's second model arrived in December 1671, and in January of 1672 the Royal Society announced that King Charles II as well as prominent members of the Royal Society had inspected the telescope and were much impressed with it.^[15][16]That January Newton was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society.^[16]

Religion & Politics

Newton also dedicated much of his time to the study of alchemy and biblical chronology, but most of his work in those areas remained unpublished until long after his death.

He was a fellow of Trinity College. A devout but unorthodox Christian, he privately rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and refused holy orders in the Church of England.

Politically and personally tied to the Whig party, Newton served two brief terms as Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge, in 1689–90 and 1701–02. His motivation appears to be related to a campaign to install a Roman Catholic majority at the university, following the death of Charles II and the succession of James II to the throne.^[17]

In 1701 he left Trinity College to settle in London, where spent his last three decades. He served as Warden (1696–1700) and Master (1700–1727) of the Royal Mint, as well as president of the Royal Society (1703–1727).

Knighthood

In 1705, Newton was knighted by Queen Anne and became the first scientist in Europe so honoured. But before he could be titled, he had to submit an affadavit for knighthood.^[2]

This requirement led to Newton being the one to draw up the chart for the Newton pedigree in 1705. ^[1][18]Later on, Newton is said to have doubts about this chart, and apparently ... there are two family traditions. The variations are:^[18]

1. descent from John of Westby (as submitted by Newton himself).^[1]
2. or descent from a gentleman of East Lothian in Scotland.^[18]

While Newton seemed to favour the latter variation during c. 1725-27, antiquarians believed that it was not "as strong" as the 1705 pedigree.^[18]

Death

Newton died on 20 March 1726/7 at the age of 84. He was buried at Westminster Abbey. ^[19] His memorial statue in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, England, of which he was a distinguished member, is inscribed "Qui genus humanum ingenio superavit" (He surpassed the race of man in understanding).^[19][20]

He was said to have left a fortune of £27,000, including bequests to several Cambridge institutions. Isaac Newton never married or had children. Woolsthorpe was inherited by a cousin, but no later member of the family entered Parliament.^[21]

Legacy

Newton continues to be a notable figure, not only in science but also in popular culture, where he features regularly in sci-fi and alternative universe genres.^[22]

The SI unit of force is named after him.

Newton was the last person to feature on the reverse of the £1 note issued by the Bank of England.

Newton was also named in a list of the supposed Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion, an elaborate hoax constructed in France in the 1950s and 60s by Pierre Plantard in an attempt to create a prestigious neo-chivalric order, claiming that the Priory of Sion was "a centuries-long conspiracy to install a secret bloodline of the Merovingian dynasty on the thrones of France and the rest of Europe". ^[23]This eventually was the inspiration for The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown, 2003).^[24]Leonardo Da Vinci was also in the list of the supposed Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion.

Research Notes

In the past, contributors have erroneously tried to adjust Newton's birth and death dates to accommodate the change from Julian to Gregorian calendars in 1752 with the loss of 11 days in that year. ^[25]The Calendar Act of 1750 stipulated that no adjustments were to be made retrospectively to the dates of past events. This article by Thony has previously been used to justify adding a birth date of 4 January 1643 and a death date of 31 March 1727, but is incorrect in this proposition.^[26]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Howard, J.J. (1874). "'Pedigree of Newton," in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica,1(1), p. 173. London: Hamilton, Adams & co. archive.org. eBook. (copy based on pedigree submitted by Sir Isaac Newton; mirror @ books.google.com).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Baird, K. (1987). Some Influences upon the Young Isaac Newton. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, 41(2), 169-179. Retrieved from jstor.org
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} will of James Ayscough
4. ↑ Isaac Newton; citing item 2; FHL microfilm 1,450,482. familysearch.org
5. ↑ Isaac Newton, burial 06 Oct 1642; citing Colsterworth, Lincoln; FHL microfilm 1,450,482.familysearch.org
6. ↑ findmypast.co.uk
7. ↑ Barnabas Smith and ... Newton, 27 Jan 1645; citing North Witham, Lincoln, England; FHL microfilm 1,450,486. familysearch.org
8. ↑ see also: Wikipedia: Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth
9. ↑ James Aiscoigh and Margery Blyth, 24 Dec 1609; citing Stroxton, Lincoln; FHL microfilm 505,746.familysearch.org
10. ↑ inquisitr.com
11. ↑ royalsocietypublishing.org
12. ↑ pictures.royalsociety.org
13. ↑ Wikipedia: Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
14. ↑ Wikipedia: Opticks
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Mills, A. A. and Turvey, P. J.. “Newton’s Telescope, an examination of the reflecting telescope attributed to Sir Isaac Newton in the Possession of the Royal Society”. Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 33, no. 2 (print: 1979, online 1997): 133-155. royalsocietypublishing.org (accessed 18 July 2022).
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1 16.2} “Newton’s Life and Work at a Glance”. The Newton Project. newtonproject.ox.ac.uk (accessed 18 July 2022).
17. ↑ Henning, B.D. (1983). Newton, Isaac (1642-1727), of Woolsthorpe, Colsterworth, Lincs. and Trinity College, Cambridge. historyofparliamentonline.org
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3} "The genealogical descent of Sir Isaac Newton," (1852). The Gentleman's Magazine, 192, p. 271. books.google.com.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} Find A Grave: Memorial #21644, citing Westminster Abbey.
20. ↑ * Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
    Find A Grave: Memorial #21644 (accessed 23 June 2024)
    Memorial page for Sir Isaac Newton (4 Jan 1643-31 Mar 1727), citing Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England (plot: Chapel); Maintained by Find a Grave.
21. ↑ More, 666-7; Hearne’s Colls. (Oxf. Hist. Soc. lxv), 293, 294.
22. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Isaac Newton in popular culture," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org (accessed May 9, 2024).
23. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Priory of Sion," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org (accessed May 9, 2024).
24. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "The Da Vinci Code," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org (accessed May 9, 2024).
25. ↑ Full text of the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750. books.google.co.uk Accessed 2 June 2020. The Act is dated as 1750 but this is because it was proposed in February 1750 - which is actually February 1751 New Style New Year
26. ↑ Thony, Christie (2015) Calendrical confusion or just when did Newton die?, The Renaissance Mathematicus, retrieved 05 May 2017 from wordpress.com;

See also:

• The Britannica Guide to The 100 Most Influential Scientists (2007), pp. 45, 56, 74, 88-95, 133, 251, 252, 253, 254,
• Wikipedia: Isaac Newton
• Wikidata: Item Q935, en:Wikipedia
• Cambridge University Alumni venn.lib.cam.ac.uk
• Knights of England 274 archive.org 16 April 1705 On the occasion of the Queen visiting Trinity College
• Westfall, R.S. (2004). "Newton, Sir Isaac." Oxford DNB, 2004,
• Pettigrew, T. (1902). Chronicles of the Tombs, p. 60-61. London: George Bell & Sons. books.google.com.
• DNB, 14, p. 370. London: Oxford Univ Press. ancestry.com.
• England & Wales, Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries, 314-1853. ancestry.com.
• Paul, Suzanne. “Papers of Sir Isaac Newton.” Text, February 27, 2017. http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/manuscripts-university-archives/significant-archival-collections/papers-sir lib.cam.ac.uk]
• Newton's library: Wykeham-Musgrave collection. hamehistory.net
• Wikipedia: Woolsthorpe Manor
• Survey of London (B.T. Batsford, Ltd., London, 1900) Vol. 1, Page xix archive.org.

• • • Bullingham House, off Church-Street, Kensington. This was the house where Sir Isaac Newton died. The house and extensive garden have been built over.

• Isaac Newton Wikidata page
• 'Michael Faraday - a Sandemanian and Scientist' by Geoffrey Cantor
• Isaac Newton Gale E Christianson. Lives and Legacies series, Oxford University Press, 2005 online copy accessed 11 October 2024