25-08-2017, 09:32 PM
Isaac Newton
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Sir Issac Newton:
Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist and theologian. He was the culminating figure of the scientific revolution of the 17th century. As the keystone of the scientific revolution of the 17th century, Newton's work combined the contributions of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and others into a new and powerful synthesis. He is considered by many scholars and members of the general public to be one of the most influential people in human history.
His ‘Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica’ published in 1687, is one of the most important scientific books ever written. It lays the groundwork for most of classical mechanics. In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion. This dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws, by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and his theory of gravitation. Thus it removing the last doubts about heliocentrism. Newton built the first practical reflecting telescope and developed a theory of color based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into the many colors that form the visible spectrum. He also formulated an empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of sound. In mathematics, Newton shares the credit with Gottfried Leibniz for the development of differential and integral calculus. He also demonstrated the generalized binomial theorem. Developed Newton’s method for approximating the roots of a function and contributed to the study of power series.
Life and Character of Sir Isaac Newton:
Early Life:
Isaac Newton born in Lincolnshire, near Grantham, on December 25 1642. He was a son of an illiterate farmer (also named Isaac), he died three months previous of Newton-s birth. The fatherless infant was small enough at birth to fit 'into a quart pot.' When he was at the age of three his mother went to live with a wealthy rector in a nearby parish. For the next eight years he was brought up by his maternal grandmother.
The sickly, lonely boy entertained himself by building toys. These included a windmill powered by a mouse treadmill, kites that glowed in the dark, and clocks. He was in danger of becoming a reclusive eccentric. But, fortunately, he had a kind uncle who got him into Grantham Grammar School, which had a fine reputation. While there, he was encouraged by the headmaster, Henry Stokes, to concentrate on physics and mathematics, as well as the classics. He was especially impressed by the Elements of Euclid.
Newton’s mother returned to Woolsthorpe in 1653 after the death of her second husband and until that time Newton was denied his mother's attention. It is thinked as the most responsible cause of his complex character. Newton's childhood was anything but happy, and throughout his life he verged on emotional collapse, occasionally falling into violent and vindictive attacks against friend and foe alike.
With his mother's return, Newton was taken from school to fulfill his birthright as a farmer. Happily, he failed in this calling, and returned to King's School at Granthan to prepare for entrance to Trinity College, Cambridge. Newton suffered a lot because of his absent-mindedness as a fledging farmer and his lackluster performance as a student. But the turning point in Newton's life came in June 1661 when he left Woolsthorpe for Cambridge University. Here Newton entered a new world, one he could eventually call his own.
Newton’s Student Life in Trinity College & Cambridge University:
Although Cambridge was an outstanding center of learning; the spirit of the scientific revolution had yet to penetrate its ancient and somewhat ossified curriculum. Little is known of Newton's formal studies as an undergraduate, but he likely received large doses of Aristotle as well as other classical authors. He was a poor scholar who waited on, and ate the left-over of, other students and fellows. Also, Cambridge was not the academic powerhouse that it would later become. Newton needed to find better company, writing, "Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is truth." He also started experimenting with alchemy, and studied the Hermetic Tradition.
From physics, he adopted the then current philosophical stance that all natural phenomena can be explained by the motion of particles of matter. For instance, he believed that light was a stream of corpuscles that could be diverted by a glass prism or similar dense, transparent media. But he used alchemy to describe chemical affinities through the Hermetic language of "attraction" and "repulsion". In his ultimate contribution to science, Newton combined these traditions in the concept of forces acting on particles of matter. The force of gravity is the classic example of an attractive force of this nature.
He sought out all kinds of knowledge from the best thinkers. For example, he studied mathematics from Descartes, and chemistry from Robert Boyle. It was a pursuit of a Theory of Everything, backed by a belief in a God who made all things through a connected, rational process.
The return to Cambridge:
Newton took his bachelor's degree in January 1665 and was selected for a scholarship in 1664 and a fellowship in 1667. Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667, and was elected a Fellow of Trinity College. For twenty years he pursued his investigations, but had vicious quarrels with anyone who challenged him. Friends turned into enemies, he refused to publish, and he finally had a terrible nervous breakdown. Although, he remained at Cambridge until 1696 he did less and less science.
At the age of twenty-seven he became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. By 1680 he was convinced that his law of attraction explained planetary motion. He even quantified the force involved. In 1684 Edmund Halley tried to persuade Newton to publish his short tract 'On the Motion of Bodies in Orbit'. But Newton refused. Instead he expanded it into his major work, Philosphiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), or Principia for short.
Isaac Newton inventions & Scientific Achievements:
Issac Newton's inventions span a vast area of subjects and sciences. Here a brief description about a few Isaac Newton Inventions that made the most impact on the world is given:
Impact of Newton’s discoveries in our life:
Newton’s different discoveries have been playing important role in developing our society, technological progress and even in changing our daily life.
Firstly we can say about Newton’s three law of motion. First law shows us that, our relationships remain the same unless we apply some forces to change directions, change attitudes, or change the environment. Our environment will not change unless we apply external forces to improve it. Governments, companies, organizations continue in the same path unless a force of change is applied to them.
Second law says if we are not smart and strong, we must work harder to have the same results. As organizations, the teams we hire determine our success because for the same amount of time/work, we must achieve higher results than our competition. As countries, the stronger our individuals, families, communities, and organizations are, the higher our chances of counter-balancing negative forces of nature and calamities.
Third law of motion is said as the Golden Rule. In times of war, the party with the greater force overpowers the opposite side because of an unequal opposite reaction. If you want something in your relationships, perhaps you should be first to give and then maybe this law of physics will kick in and start working. The examples here are endless.
The world is a complex place but these laws have simplified much in the world of mechanics. Perhaps, they can help simplify something in our world as well.