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Sir Isaac Newtonand His contributions to Modern Day Science

By Marco Soto & Martin Lozoya

Time Line

Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 in Lincolnshire.

He attended Cambridge University in 1661-65 and 1667.

He was an English physicist and mathematician.

Newton died on the 31st of March in 1727.

Newton made a number of contributions to modern day science.

Newton’s Reflecting Telescope

Newton’s first contribution includes his creation of a simple reflecting telescope which used mirrors rather than lenses to focus light.

However, another man by the name of James Gregory developed an earlier model, but Newton was able to create a simple and practical product.

Isaac’s study of Light

Newton concluded that white light was a mixture of various colors.

He wrote the book Opticks which is used as a model of the interweaving of theory with quantitative experimentation.

Gravity

It is said that Sir Isaac Newton contemplated the laws of gravity after he witnessed an apple fall in his orchard in 1665.

He calculated that the moon and other objects abided by this law and calculated the force needed to maintain the moon’s orbit.

He also experimented with centripetal force and calculated the force required to hold a rock in a sling.

The Three Laws of Motion

Perhaps the most influential discovery in science, Newton’s law of motion sets the basis of modern day physics.

He first published his findings in the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687.

They were used to explain Johannes Kepler’s law of planetary motion.

Calculus

Another great development of Sir Isaac Newton was the creation of calculus.

The Binomial Theorem was one of the factors for the creation of calculus. This helped scientists account for theoretical variables that led to other discoveries such as the theory of Relativity and nuclear fission.

Bibliography

http://www.egglescliffe.org.uk/physics/astronomy/telescope/newtontele.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/newton_isaac.shtml

http://www.newton.ac.uk/newtlife.html

http://www.universetoday.com/38643/what-did-isaac-newton-discover/