Newton's history. Newton's biography What discovery did Isaac Newton make
The life and discoveries of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton, (1642-1727) the greatest scientist who had the greatest influence on the development of science was born at Woolsthorpe, England, on Christmas Day 1642 (the year Galileo died).
Like Mohammed, Newton was born after the death of his father. As a child, he showed a penchant for mechanics and was very skilled. Though Isaac was a smart kid, he didn't try very hard at school and didn't stand out in particular. As a teenager, his mother took him out of school, hoping that his son would be successful in agriculture. Fortunately, she did not lose faith in his abilities, and, having reached the age of eighteen, Isaac entered the University of Cambridge. There he quickly learned what was then known in the field of mathematics and natural sciences, and even engaged in his own research.
Between the ages of 21 and 27, Newton laid the foundations of his theories, which revolutionized the world of science. The middle of the 17th century was a time of rapid scientific development. The invention of the telescope at the beginning of the century ushered in a new era in astronomy. The English philosopher Francis Bacon and the French philosopher René Descartes urged European scientists to no longer rely on the authority of Aristotle, but to engage in their own experiments.
Galileo fulfilled this call. His telescope observations upended astronomical concepts of the day, and his mechanical experiments established what is known as the first law of Newtonian mechanics.
Other great scientists, such as Harvey with his discoveries in the field of blood circulation and Kepler, who described the laws of motion of the planets around the Sun, also gave science a lot of new important information. But in general, pure science remained an arena of the game of minds, and there was still no evidence that science, combined with technology, could change the whole life of people, as Francis Bacon predicted.
Although Copernicus and Galileo debunked some of the erroneous concepts of the ancient scientists and made a great contribution to a better understanding of the laws of the universe, the fundamental principles that could bind together disparate facts and make scientific prediction possible have not yet been formulated. It was Newton who created such a unifying theory and paved the way that science has followed up to the present.
Newton was usually reluctant to publish the results of his research, and although his main concepts were formulated by 1669, much was published much later.
The first work in which he made his discoveries public was his startling book on the nature of light.
After a series of experiments, Newton came to the conclusion that ordinary white light is a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow. He also made a thorough analysis of the laws of reflection and refraction of light. Based on the knowledge of these laws, in 1668 he created the first refractor telescope - a telescope of the same type, which is now used in the main astronomical observatories.
About these, as well as about his other experiments and discoveries, Newton reported at a meeting of the British Royal Scientific Society when he was 29 years old. Even the achievements of Isaac Newton in optics would have ensured his inclusion in our list, but his discoveries in mathematics and mechanics were much more significant.
His main contribution to mathematics was the discovery of integral calculus (during the period when he was twenty-three to twenty-four years old). This invention was not just the seed from which modern mathematical theory grew; without this method, most of the achievements of modern science would be impossible.
But Newton's main discoveries were made in the field of mechanics. Galileo discovered the first law of motion of bodies that are not subject to the influence of external (foreign) forces.
In practice, of course, all objects are subject to some kind of external forces, and the question of the motion of objects under the indicated circumstances is the most important question of mechanics. This problem was solved by Newton, who discovered the famous second law of mechanics, in fact, the most fundamental of the laws of classical physics.
This second law, mathematically expressed by the formula
states that acceleration is equal to the force divided by the mass of the object. To the two laws of mechanics, Newton added the famous third law, which states that every action causes an equal reaction, and the (most famous) law of universal gravitation.
These four laws of mechanics constitute a single system, with the help of which it is possible to study, in fact, all macroscopic mechanical systems, from pendulum oscillations to the movement of planets around the Sun.
Newton not only formulated these laws of mechanics, but himself, using mathematical methods, showed how these laws can be used to solve actual problems.
Knowledge of Newton's laws makes it possible to solve an extremely wide range of scientific and technical problems. During his lifetime, these laws found their most striking application in the field of astronomy. In 1687 he published his great work, Principia Mathematica, commonly referred to simply as Principia, in which he formulated the laws of mechanics and the law of universal gravitation.
Newton showed that, using these laws, it is possible to fairly accurately predict the movement of the planets around the Sun. The fundamental problem of astronomical dynamics - the problem of the predictability of the movement of celestial bodies - was solved by Newton with the help of one magnificent move. That is why he is often called also a great astronomer.
What is our assessment of Newton's scientific merit based on? If you look through the indexes of scientific encyclopedias, you will find more references to Newton and his discoveries than to any other scientist.
It should also be taken into account that Leibniz, also a great scientist, wrote about Newton, with whom Newton sharply argued: “If we talk about mathematics from the beginning of the world to the time of Newton, then he did more for this science than all others.” The great French scientist Laplace called the Principia "the greatest work of human genius." Lagrange also considered Newton to be the greatest genius, and Ernst Much wrote in 1901 that "since that time, all achievements in mathematics have been simply the development of the laws of mechanics on the basis of Newton's ideas."
In such a short review as ours, it is impossible to tell in detail about all the accomplishments of Newton, although his more private achievements also deserve attention. newton astronomy universal gravitation
Thus, Isaac Newton made a significant contribution to thermodynamics and acoustics, formulated the most important principle of conservation of the amount of energy, created his famous binomial theorem, and made a significant contribution to astronomy and cosmogony. But, having recognized Newton as the greatest of the geniuses who had the greatest influence on world science, one may still ask why he is placed here before such eminent politicians as Alexander the Great or Washington, or the greatest religious leaders such as Christ or Buddha.
My opinion: despite the importance of political or religious transformations, most people in the world lived in exactly the same way both 500 years before Alexander and 500 years later. Similarly, the daily life of most people in 1500 AD was much the same as it was in 1500 BC.
Meanwhile, since 1500, with the development and rise of modern science, revolutionary changes have taken place in people's everyday life, in their work, food, clothing, leisure activities, etc. No less changes have taken place in philosophy, and in religious thinking, in politics and economics. Newton, a brilliant scientist, had the greatest influence on the development of modern science, and therefore deserves one of the most honorable places (second in importance) in any list of the most influential historical figures. .
Newton died in 1727 and was the first scientist to be honored to be buried in Westminster Abbey.
On the statue of Sir Isaac Newton(1643-1727), erected at Trinity College, Cambridge, the inscription "In his mind he surpassed the human race" is carved.
Today's publication contains brief biographical information about the life path and scientific achievements of the great scientist. We will find out when and where Isaac Newton lived, in which one he was born, as well as some interesting facts about him.
Brief biography of Isaac Newton
Where was Isaac Newton born? Great English, mechanic, astronomer and physicist, creator of classical mechanics, president of the Royal London was born in the village of Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire at death.
Date of birth of Isaac Newton may have a twofold designation: according to the one in force in England at the time of the scientist’s birth, - December 25, 1642, by , whose action in England began in 1752, - January 4, 1643.
The boy was born prematurely and very painful, but he lived for 84 years and accomplished so much in science that would be enough for a dozen lives.
As a child, Newton, according to contemporaries, was withdrawn, loved to read and constantly made technical toys:, etc.
After graduating, in 1661 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge University. Even then, a strong and courageous Newton was formed - the desire to get to the bottom of everything, intolerance to deceit and oppression, indifference to noisy glory.
In college, he immersed himself in the work of his predecessors - Galileo, Descartes, Kepler, as well as the mathematicians Fermat and Huygens.
In 1664, a plague broke out in Cambridge, and Newton had to return to his native village. He spent two years at Woolsthorpe, during which time his major mathematical discoveries were made.
At the age of 23, the young scientist was already fluent in the methods of differential and integral calculus. At the same time, as he himself claimed, Newton discovered universal gravitation and proved that white sunlight is a mixture of many colors, and also derived the famous Newton's binomial formula.
No wonder they say that the greatest scientific discoveries are made most often by very young people. This happened to Isaac Newton, but all these landmark scientific achievements were published only after twenty, and some even after forty years. The desire not only to discover, but also to prove in detail the truth always remained the main thing for Newton.
The works of the great scientist opened up a completely new picture of the world to his contemporaries. It turned out that celestial bodies located at great distances are interconnected by gravitational forces into a single system.
In the course of his research, Newton determined the mass and density of the planets and found that the planets closest to the Sun are the most dense.
He also proved that it is not an ideal ball: it is “flattened” at and “swollen” at the equator, and are explained by the action of gravity and the Sun.
Scientific research and discoveries of Isaac Newton
In order to list all the scientific achievements of Isaac Newton, more than a dozen pages are needed.
He created the corpuscular theory, assuming that light is a stream of tiny particles, discovered the dispersion of light, interference and diffraction.
He built the first one - the prototype of those giant telescopes that are installed today in the largest observatories in the world.
He discovered the fundamental law of universal gravitation and the main laws of classical mechanics, developed the theory of celestial bodies, and his three-volume work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" brought the scientist worldwide fame.
Among other things, Newton turned out to be a remarkable economist - when he was appointed director of the British court, he quickly put money circulation in the country in order and launched the issue of a new coin.
The works of the scientist often remained misunderstood by his contemporaries, he was subjected to fierce criticism from colleagues - mathematicians and astronomers, however, in 1705, Queen Anna of Great Britain elevated the son of a simple farmer to a knighthood. For the first time in history, the title of knight was awarded for scientific merit.
The Legend of the Apple and Newton
The story of the discovery of the law of universal gravitation - when Newton's thoughts were interrupted by the fall of a ripe apple, from which the scientist concluded that bodies with different masses were attracted to each other, and then mathematically described this dependence with the famous formula - is just a legend.
However, the British for a whole century showed visitors the “same” apple tree, and when the tree grew old, it was cut down and made into a bench, which is preserved as a historical monument.
The whole picture of the world, created by the great English scientist Isaac Newton, still amazes scientists. Newton's merit is that both huge celestial bodies and the smallest grains of sand driven by the wind obey the laws he discovered.
Isaac Newton was born in England on January 4, 1643. At 26, he became a professor of mathematics and physics and taught for 27 years. In the first years of his scientific activity, he became interested in optics, where he made many discoveries. He personally made the first mirror telescope, which magnified 40 times (at that time, a considerable amount).
From 1676, Newton began to study mechanics. The scientist outlined the main discoveries in this area in the monumental work “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”. Everything that was known about the simplest forms of motion of matter was told in the Elements. Newton's doctrine of space, mass and force was of great importance for the further development of physics. Only the discoveries of the 20th century, especially those of Einstein, showed the limitations of the laws on which Newton's theory of classical mechanics was built. But despite this, classical mechanics has not lost its practical significance.
Isaac Newton laid out the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of mechanics, which became the basis of classical mechanics. He gave a theory of the motion of celestial bodies, creating the foundations of celestial mechanics. He developed differential and integral calculus, made many discoveries in the science of optics and color theory, developed a number of other mathematical and physical theories. Newton's scientific works were far ahead of the general scientific level of his time, and therefore many of them were obscure to contemporaries. Many of his hypotheses and predictions turned out to be prophetic, for example, the deflection of light in the gravitational field, the phenomenon of light polarization, the interconversion of light and matter, the hypothesis of the Earth being flattened at the poles, etc.
The following words are carved on the grave of the great scientist:
"Here rests
Sir Isaac Newton,
Who by the almost divine power of his mind
first explained
With the help of your mathematical method
The movements and forms of the planets,
The paths of comets, the ebbs and flows of the ocean.
He was the first to explore the diversity of light rays
And the peculiarities of colors resulting from this,
Until that time, no one even suspected.
Diligent, shrewd and faithful interpreter
Nature, antiquities and sacred writings,
He glorified the Almighty Creator in his teaching.
He proved the simplicity required by the Gospel with his own life.
Let mortals rejoice that in their midst
Such an adornment of the human race lived.
Known to every schoolchild, the great English scientist was born on December 24, 1642, according to the old style, or on January 4, 1643, according to the current biography of which originates in the town of Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, was born so weak that they did not dare to baptize him for a long time. However, the boy survived and, despite poor health in childhood, managed to live to an advanced age.
Childhood
Isaac's father died before he was born. Mother, Anna Ayskow, widowed early, remarried, having given birth to three more children from her new husband. She paid little attention to her eldest son. Newton, whose biography in childhood seemed to be prosperous, suffered greatly from loneliness and lack of attention from his mother.
The boy was more cared for by his uncle, Anna Ayskoe's brother. As a child, Isaac was a withdrawn, silent child, with a penchant for making various technical crafts, such as a sundial.
School years
In 1955, at the age of 12, Isaac Newton was sent to school. Shortly before this
his stepfather dies, and his mother inherits his fortune, immediately reissuing it to his eldest son. The school was in Grantham, and Newton lived with the local apothecary, Clark. During his studies, his outstanding abilities were revealed, but four years later his mother returned the 16-year-old boy home with the aim of entrusting him with the duties of managing the farm.
But agriculture was not his business. Reading books, writing poetry, constructing complex mechanisms - this was the whole of Newton. It was at this moment that his biography determined its direction towards science. School teacher Stokes, Uncle William and a member of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, Humphrey Babington, combined their efforts to continue the education of Isaac Newton.
Universities
In Cambridge, a short biography of Newton is as follows:
- 1661 - admission to Trinity College at the university for free education as a "sizer" student.
- 1664 - the successful passing of exams and transfer to the next stage of education as a "schoolboy" student, which gave him the right to receive a scholarship and the opportunity to continue his education further.
At the same time, Newton, whose biography recorded a creative upsurge and the beginning of an independent, got acquainted with Isaac Barrow, a new mathematics teacher who had a strong influence on the hobby
In total, Trinity College was given a long period of life (30 years) and mathematics, but it was here that he made his first discoveries (binomial expansion for an arbitrary rational exponent and expansion of a function into an infinite series) and created, based on the teachings of Galileo, Descartes and Kepler, the universal system of the world.
Years of great achievements and glory
With the outbreak of the plague in 1665, classes at the college ceased, and Newton left for his estate in Woolsthorpe, where the most significant discoveries were made - optical experiments with the colors of the spectrum,
In 1667, the scientist returned to Trinity College, where he continued his research in the field of physics, mathematics, and optics. The telescope he created caused rave reviews in the Royal Society.
In 1705, Newton, whose photo can be found in every textbook today, was the first to be awarded the title of knight precisely for scientific achievements. The number of discoveries in various fields of science is very large. Monumental works on mathematics, fundamentals of mechanics, in the field of astronomy, optics, and physics turned scientists' ideas about the world upside down.
Probably, there is not a single person in the world who does not know who Isaac Newton is. One of the world's most outstanding scientists, who made discoveries in several fields of science at once, gave rise to scientific areas in mathematics, optics, astronomy, one of the founding fathers classical physics. So who is Isaac Newton. Today, a short biography and his discoveries are widely known.
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History of the scientist and researcher
One could say about him in the words of the poet Nikolai Tikhonov: “Nails would be made from these people. There would be no stronger nails in the world. Born prematurely, very small and weak, he lived 84 years in perfect health, to a ripe old age, devoting whole self development of science and doing public affairs. Throughout his life, the scientist adhered to firm moral principles, was a model of honesty, did not strive for publicity and fame. Even the will of King James II did not break him.
Childhood
The scientist considered his birth on the eve of Catholic Christmas a special sign of providence. After all, he managed to make his greatest discoveries. Like a new Star of Bethlehem, he illuminated many areas in which science developed in the future. Many discoveries have been made thanks to the planned them way.
Newton's father, who seemed to his contemporaries an eccentric and strange person, never found out about the birth of his son. A successful farmer and a good owner, who just a few months before the birth of his son, left the family a significant farm and money.
From his youthful years, having experienced tender affection for his mother all his life, Isaac could not forgive her decision to leave him in the care of his grandparents after she married a second time. The autobiography, compiled by him as a teenager, tells of the impulses of despair and childhood plans for revenge on his mother and stepfather. He was able to entrust the story of his emotional experiences exclusively to paper, the famous scientist was closed in life, didn't have close friends and never married.
At the age of 12, he was assigned to the Grantham School. A closed and uncommunicative disposition, as well as inner concentration, turned his peers against him. From childhood, the future scientist preferred natural sciences to boyish pranks. He read a lot, was fond of designing mechanical toys, and solved mathematical problems. A conflict situation with classmates prompted the proud Newton to become the best student in the school.
Studying in Cambridge
Having been widowed, Newton's mother really hoped that her 16-year-old son would begin to help her in farming. But through the combined efforts of the school teacher, the boy's uncle, and especially Humphrey Babington, a member of Trinity College, managed to convince her of the need for further education. In 1661, Newton took an exam in Latin and enters Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. It was in this institution that for 30 years he studied science, conducted experiments and made world discoveries.
Instead of paying for his studies in college, where the young man first lived as a student-sizer, he had to do some assignments from wealthier students and other chores around the university. After 3 years, in 1664, Newton passed the exams with honors and received an increased student category, as well as the right not only to free education, but also to a scholarship.
Studying so captivated and inspired him that, according to the recollections of classmates, he could forget about sleep and food. He was still engaged in mechanics and designed various things and tools, dabbled in math, astronomical observations, research in optics, philosophy, even music theory and history.
Deciding to devote his years of life to science, he abandons love and plans to create a family. The young pupil of the pharmacist Clark, with whom he lived during his school years, also did not marry and retained a tender memory of Newton for the rest of her life.
First steps in scientific activity
1664 became an inspiring year for the young scientist. He compiles a "Questionnaire" of 45 scientific problems and sets himself the goal of solving all of them.
Thanks to the lectures of the famous mathematician I. Barrow, Newton made his first discovery of the binomial expansion, which subsequently allowed him to derive the method of differential calculus, which is used today in higher mathematics. He successfully passes the exam and receives a bachelor's degree.
Even the plague epidemic of 1665-1667 could not stop this inquisitive mind and make it sit idle. At the time of rampant illness, Newton leaves home, where he continues to engage in scientific activities. Here, in the privacy of your home, does most of his great discoveries:
- establishes the basic methods of types of calculus - integral and differential;
- deduces the theory of color and gives rise to the development of optical science;
- finds a method for finding the roots of quadratic equations;
- derives a formula for the expansion of an arbitrary natural power of a binomial.
Important! The famous apple tree, observations of which helped in the discovery, was preserved as a memorial bench for the scientist.
Major discoveries
Isaac Newton brief description of his activities. He was not just a genius, a well-known scientist, but a person with diverse interests in many fields of science and technology. What is he famous for and what did he discover. A keen mathematician and physicist, he was equally well versed in both the exact sciences and the humanities. Economics, alchemy, philosophy, music and history - in all these directions worked the genius of his talent. Here is just a brief description of the great discoveries of Isaac Newton:
- deduced the theory of the motion of celestial bodies - determined that the planets revolve around;
- formulated three important laws of mechanics;
- brought the theory of light and color shades;
- built the world's first mirror;
- discovered the law of gravity for which he became famous.
According to legend, Newton discovered the famous law by watching apples fall from an apple tree in his garden. Biographer of the famous scientist William Stukeley describes this moment in a book dedicated to the memoirs of Newton, which was published in 1752. According to Stukeley, it was an apple that fell from a tree that led him to the idea of attraction of cosmic bodies and gravity.
"Why do apples fall perpendicular to the ground?" - Newton thought and, thinking, he deduced a new law. In the garden of the University of Cambridge, students honor and carefully care for the tree, which is considered a descendant of the same "Newton's apple tree".
The fall of the apple was only the impetus for the famous discovery. Newton went to him for many years, studying the works Galilee, Bullialda, Hooke, other astronomers and physicists. The scientist considered the “Third Law of Keller” to be another impulse. True, he compiled a modern interpretation of the Law of Universal Gravitation a little later, when he studied the laws of mechanics.
Other scientific developments
Classical mechanics is based on Newton's Laws, the most important in the field of mechanics, were formulated in a scientific work on mathematics, the principles of philosophy, published in 1687:
- the first Law of uniform motion in a straight line, if no other forces act on the body;
- the second Law - describing in differential form the effect of acting forces on acceleration;
- the third Law is about the force of interaction between two bodies at a certain distance.
These laws of Newton are currently are an axiom.
Astronomy
At the end of 1669, the scientist received one of the most prestigious positions in the world at Trinity College, the nominal Lucas professorship of mathematics and optics. In addition to a salary of 100 pounds, bonuses and scholarships, it becomes possible to devote more time to own scientific research activities. Engaged in experiments and experiments in optics and the theory of light, Newton creates his first reflecting telescope.
Important! The improved telescope became the main tool for astronomers and navigators of that time. With its help, the planet Uranus was discovered, other galaxies were discovered.
Studying the heavenly bodies through his reflector, the scientist deduced the theory of celestial bodies, determined the movement of the planets around the Sun. Using the calculations of his reflector and applying a scientific approach to the study of the Bible, he made his own doomsday message. According to his calculations, this event will take place in 2060.
State activity
1696 The great scientist holds the position of keeper of the Mint, moved to London, where he lived until 1726. After conducting financial accounting and establishing order in the documentation, he becomes Montague's co-author on the monetary reform.
During the period of his activity, a branch network of the Mint was created, the production of silver coins increased several times. Newton implements technology to get rid of counterfeiters.
1699 Becomes the manager of the Mint. In this position, he continues to fight against counterfeiters. His actions as manager were as brilliant as during his scientific career. Thanks to the reforms carried out in England economic crisis averted.
1698. presented a report on Newton's economic reform. While in England, Tsar Peter met the famous professor three times. In 1700, a monetary reform similar to the English one was carried out in Russia.
1689 -1690 years. He was a representative of the University of Cambridge in the country's parliament. From 1703 to 1725 he served as president of the Royal Society.
The last months of his life the professor lived in Kensington. The great scientist died on March 20, 1727. He died in his sleep and was buried on the grounds of Westminster Abbey in the tomb of the kings and most prominent people of England. All the townspeople came to say goodbye to the famous contemporary. The funeral procession was led by Lord Chancellor himself followed by British ministers in a funeral procession.
