Isaac Newton: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of Physicists Book 2); by Hourly History.b

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Isaac Newton: A Life

From Beginning to End

(Biographies of Physicists Book 2)

by Hourly History.

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It's possible to imagine, of course, a level of writing far more abysmal than that on exhibition in this book.

But that doesn't make this less so.

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"There would be debates to follow, involving John Locke and Richard Bentley and more importantly Leibnitz. He took up the issue with Newton's failure to explain how gravity works. In France where Descartes had reigned supreme, scholars said that Newton's force of gravity had no logical basis and that it was more of a supernatural notion than anything else. In England, the critiques were a little different. His critics worried that Newton's “clockwork cosmos” left little room for divine intervention. ... "

So far, fine. But then why foes the author need to hurry to reassure people?

" ... Newton believed in God and would continue to believe in God for all of his scientific explorations."

Thst sounds more relevant to an institution that seeks to decide whether to subject Newton to an Inquisition, and its irrelevant to most people today.

If idiots wish to excommunicated him, they must do without any and all products of technology that stem from his work in any way.

Including cellphones that depend on satellites which are held in orbit due to gravity.

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"Newton was mirroring the times in which he lived. People were obsessed with dying, due to the fact that it was always around them. England had emerged from a tumultuous century, plague still ravaged the land and the fire of 1666 wiped out much of London. The comet seen in 1680 was another sign that the world was soon coming to an end."

Author forgets to say "they thought" in the last sentence.

Or does someone - author, church, ... - think that the world did end then?

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" ... English poet Alexander Pope encapsulated Newton in one of his poems, “Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night / God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.”"

So far, fine. But then there's the illiterate and idiotic writing so common in this particular book.

"Yet Newton's explosion into the world was the biggest and loudest to date. He was the man who never married, never had a lover, had great trouble making friends and fought through his letters with many other scientists over experiments and scientific findings. Through all of this, he had turned his mind to understanding the world in ways which the average person never perceived."

So any idiot unwilling to study or understand science can duplicate Newton's achievements by not marrying, not having a lover, and quarreling via letters with other scientists?

The traits described here aren't that uncommon in scientist circles. But those are rather results of necessities of a life devoted to science, albeit not unavoidably so.

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"In the 1660s, alone in a farmhouse, steering clear of the plague that was ravaging the countryside, Newton had come up with most of the mathematical formulas that we know as calculus. But he revealed it to no one. In Germany, at about the same time, Gottfried Leibnitz had also invented calculus, using a different emphasis and a different form of notation. It is Leibnitz's calculus that is used today.

"Before Newton penned the famous report for the Royal Society, marking him as the true inventor of calculus, Leibnitz had said, “Taking mathematics from the beginning of the world to the time when Newton lived, what he had done was much the better half.”"

Again, author could have stopped here. But no, author must exhibit illiteracy and idiocy.

"What he had done was the better half. Nothing that has come since, not relativity, not quantum mechanics or chaos theory or anything, has supplanted that which came from the mind of Isaac Newton."

Leibnitz said "better half" in context of his own era, but author expresses complete illiterate mindset in taking that as related to further - and in that era, unimaginable - development.

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"In the twentieth century, Albert Einstein would overturn the Newtonian understanding of the universe. Time, space, motion and distance, things which Newton had believed were absolute were proved by Einstein to be relative. Einstein was able to show that time together with space are one fabric and that the universe Newton saw was nothing like the universe we know today.

"Yet, this would not surprise the great scientist if he were alive today. ... "

That might lead readers to think Newton did envisage relativity. This would be the inference drawn by illiterates.

Scientists know that this is untrue. If a scientist has such a tremendous thought, it'd be penned somewhere, spoken to someone. It wouldn't be a secret carried to grave.

And yet author says this. Based on what?

" ... When an old man and asked for an overview of his achievements Newton merely said, “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”"

This is general humility of a man or woman of knowledge, who feels more and more this way, the more the knowledge.

But not an evidence, or even an indication, that Newton had an inkling about science as in late nineteenth - early twentieth century.

To conclude this quote to mean that Newton wouldn't be surprised at the developments centuries later, is simply asinine.

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"Isaac Newton changed his world, the one ruled by ghastly experiments, bloodletting, and great superstition. He opened the door that led into our world. He laid the blueprints for the laws of motion and gravity and made it possible for space travel to become a reality. From inventing the reflecting telescope to proposing new theories about light and color, to inventing calculus, to developing three laws of motion and devising the law of universal gravitation—all of these achievements made it possible for modern science to emerge.

"Many scientists today would argue that Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist of all. In 2005, a survey was taken of the members of the Royal Society—the same one Newton was head of—asking who had the greater effect on the history of science. Was it Newton or Einstein? The Society answered Newton. The modern world which Newton made possible, still holds him in great esteem."

One, it's Royal Society, not world council, and it was honour bound to honour their own, not only countryman but member and head.

Two, how does anyone certify that there was no antisemitism involved, even at subconscious level?

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"If ever there was a man who believed he was on par with God, it was Sir Isaac Newton. ... "

No, there's no evidence thereof; had there been, it'd have been quoted endlessly.

So that's a lie based on the unchanged attitude of church enforcing an attitude of subservience on all humanity and fixing fraudulent labels on those who wouldn't, if burning them at stake were out of question.

And this series seems generated by church, with authorship sourced from schoolboys in bible belt.

"Coming from humble beginnings and moving through the ranks of the science of his day, Newton became a darling of the scientific world. In fact, he changed the way we understand the universe.

"Isaac Newton was the man who discovered the laws of gravity and motion, and along with that, he delved deep into mathematics, creating calculus. The worldview of most twenty-first-century inhabitants stems from how his discoveries helped to shape the world."

"Creating calculus"?

That's factually incorrect even for a lower level, since prior works of others are not only discovered but acknowledged; but the very wording there is illiterate.

Mathematics, above all other sciences, isn't "created" any more than planets and other objects solar system are, by those discovering them.

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"Yet, his world was a shambles. Born early and unwanted by either father or mother, he would eventually head off into the solitude that he craved and loved so much; and when confronted would argue bitterly with anyone who stood in his way. Working in secrecy, often imposing long periods of isolation upon himself, Newton discovered and achieved more things than one would think humanly possible.

"Newton laid the foundation for the world in which we live today. Theoretical and applied science owes its thanks to Sir Isaac Newton for carving the paths down which he so arrogantly strode. Because of the scientific breakthroughs he had, other esteemed scientists, such as Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, were able to complete the work that lay before them. Without Newton, none of that would have happened."

Again that illiterate writing!

"Arrogantly "?????

And why the certainty about no one possibly "able to complete the work that lay before them", "Without Newton"? Such a statement requires a certain level of learning in sciences, at a minimum - and a prophetic ability to boot!

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"Isaac Newton was a wonder of his day and age. He had the ability to look at complex concepts of light and motion; he discovered what gravity is all about, he explained the universe, and gave to humanity its one and rightful place in the vast cosmos."

" ... Newton was, and is, regarded as the chief architect of the modern world. Find out why in this book."

One, even within racist view of West, Leibnitz has always been known to have done at least as much, and perhaps prior; so it's only dominance of English language, partly due to British empire and later US, that'd hold that statement without a thought.

But, much more importantly, two - West denies thought and knowledge sourced from outside Europe, due to colonial era attempts to subjugate and wipe out all other cultures having succeeded to some degree, producing the said arrogance of racism.

Reality is, Renaissance was only possible due chiefly to valuable manuscripts sourced from Levant and Spain, having been copied assiduously over centuries by Arabs and Jews, keeping knowledge discovered alive.

And much of those, whether algebra or calculus, germinated in India, was carried out by Arab traders via painstakingly copied manuscripts, while invaders from Central and West Asia destroyed humongous amounts thereof throughout India from libraries in temples and universities, by hundreds of thousands, while the said temples and libraries too were destroyed by then, and scholars massacred by tens of thousands.

As for that "Find out why in this book" bit, again - dies the author claim this as a personal discovering, never before published by anyone else anywhere? No, all those statements are common knowledge or misconceptions. So that "Find out why in this book" is again illustrative of an ignorance that bothers, especially when considering the subject.

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"“Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.”

"—Isaac Newton"

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"Before getting into how Isaac Newton influenced the world, it's a good idea to take a look at the world in which he was born. ... "

It's immediately clear why. The very next sentence informs us that Newton arrived on scene in an England thst was defined by Queen Elizabeth I and her father, successfully, from Vatican dominance over minds and thought, so that it was possible for someone like Newton to think and write freely without fear of the Inquisition that was burning people alive at stake for such activities.

In England, for example, it had gone on before, for example until the days of Thomas More, who had burnt alive at least one person for the crime of writing and publishing a manuscript with his thinking not strictly in conformity with that of Vatican.

" ... When Queen Elizabeth I had died in 1603, the crown transferred to her cousin James, who was already king of Scotland. He then became King James I of England. He ruled, relatively peacefully until 1625, when he was succeeded by his son Charles I. Charles wanted to unite England, Scotland, and Ireland into one country. This didn't sit very well with those in Parliament. They believed England's traditions regarding the monarchy would be lost."

Ha! It was those of everyone else that were to lose due to domination of England.

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"As things were at the time, Parliament played a minor role in English politics in the seventeenth century. They were summoned at the whim of the king and met only occasionally. They were almost what you might call an advisory committee to the ruler. Yet, the king couldn't ignore them, as he needed them to collect revenues throughout the land.

"In order to do this, the gentry, who were a step up from the peasants, would elect representatives to sit in the House of Commons. When they were assembled with the House of Lords, they formed the Parliament together. They really had no power to act on their own; they could only petition the king for bills they wished passed. If there was trouble, Parliament could threaten to withhold revenue."

Not a small threat, in fact, very effective - seeing how fast the parliament succeeded in being the authority, compared to elsewhere throughout Europe.

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"Charles had married a Roman Catholic, which didn't sit well in Reformation England. To make matters worse, he got involved in an expeditionary force that went to France and resulted in a fiasco. At this point, Charles dissolved Parliament, and in 1628, he assembled a new one. One of the members of this new Parliament was Oliver Cromwell."

Author neglects mentioning historical connections of Cromwell.

"For the next ten years, Charles never called a Parliament. He ruled on his own, but with little money. Rather than do things the correct way by working with Parliament, Charles began imposing taxes for the most ridiculous things. More and more citizens were becoming enraged at his activities. Then, when religion started to get mixed into the equation, things began to take a turn for the worse."

Author uses adjectives without taking into account context of times, when most of the world had no parliaments and thus mist monarchs were absolute in their power over not only lands and revenue but over lives of subjects.

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"Charles had appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Puritans accused Laud of reintroducing Catholicism. The Roman Catholic religion had been forced underground or out of the country altogether under Elizabeth I, and there was widespread animosity towards anyone who followed Catholicism."

Considering the endless attempts by Vatican to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, it's hardly surprising there was animosity against anyone whose primary fidelity as a catholic would be to Vatican and not to England.

"Puritans found themselves fined for not attending church and in continued hot water for opposing the king. In some cases, they were arrested. When Charles tried forcing his religious sanctions on Scotland, all hell broke loose. A rebellion ensued, but Charles agreed to stay out of Scottish religious affairs."

Author fails to explain, or even define, what and who exactly were puritans. Was it just another name for catholics?

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"In 1640, Charles invaded Scotland anyway. Nothing was decisive, and the border was lined with English on one side and Scots on the other. The Scottish army had moved into England and demanded money not to burn and pillage the northern villages. This was a difficult request to accommodate as Charles himself was desperate for money.

"Finally, in November 1640, Charles summoned the Long Parliament. They wanted to meet regularly, and there were to be no new taxes. Also, the king would no longer have the right to dissolve Parliament.

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"Alas, things grew worse, as the king kept opposing Parliament. In January 1642, Charles tried to have five members of the House of Commons arrested for treason. The attempt failed. So, he took his family out of London and made for a northern location. As the summer wore on, people were taking sides. Cities were all for Parliament, while the rural areas backed the king.

"Little by little, tensions rose as more information surfaced. The king and his supporters were for the traditional government while the Parliamentarians supported everything from traditional government to redistribution of power at the national level. However, both sides seemed to favor having Charles I as king."

For lack of alternative?

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"Forces gathered behind both factions, and by October 23, 1642, the first battle began. It was fought at Edgehill, and although neither side won, they both claimed victory. In November the Battle of Turnham Green was fought, and Charles and his troops were forced to retreat to the city of Oxford. This would remain his base for the remainder of the war."

Interesting tidbit there regarding history of a place considered old academic seat of thought.

"Suddenly, England seemed a place of confusion, darkness, and obscurity. Nothing was as it had once been. Faiths which had once ruled were gone, replaced by new beliefs and magic which was a great part of daily life. The plague was a daily concern, and many people believed the end of the world was near. England was learning to reshape itself, and it still had a long and bloody way to go."

That paragraph screams of authorship rooted in catholic fidelity to Vatican, scream as it does of warnings about stepping away from church.

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And quite tellingly, the next paragraph begins with birth of Newton on a day stolen from ancient European celebrations of Saturnalia given a new, fraudulent, name and interpretation.

"It was on Christmas Day that very year that Isaac Newton was born. England was using the Julian calendar at the time, which meant that, technically, it was already January 4, 1643. His birth took place at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, in a rural stone farmhouse."

That ought to be far more famous than Stratford on Avon!

That it isn't, and of course not as popular on tourist circuit, tells more about state of level of education in West in general, and UK and US in particular.

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"His father, also named Isaac Newton, had died three months before the birth. The first Isaac Newton never learned to read or write and wrote his signature with an X. Woolsthorpe was near an ancient Roman road and children would occasionally unearth Roman coins in the dirt. Isaac's father was poor all of his life but did manage to have a comfortable farmer's existence.

"Isaac Newton was born prematurely. He was such a tiny baby that his prospects looked bleak. His mother, Hannah Ayscough, unwillingly became a single mother. She didn't want her son, and thus, Isaac was raised by his maternal grandmother Margery Ayscough.

"It seemed as if the infant Isaac was a child without a family. He certainly was a child without a country. England would soon broil over into civil war."

Author fails to explain the "His mother, Hannah Ayscough, unwillingly became a single mother", the "She didn't want her son", and the "child without a country" bits, apart from the question of how someone raised by a grandmother is "child without a family".

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"“Pick a flower on earth and you move the farthest star.”

"—Paul A.M. Dirac"

Is that what's termed "Butterfly Effect "?

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"By the time Isaac was three years old, his mother Hannah had remarried to the Reverend Barnabas Smith. She no longer had any time for Isaac. Hannah went on to have three children with the reverend; Isaac always maintained much animosity towards him and didn't think kindly of his mother either.

"As a nineteen-year-old, Isaac had composed a list of sins. Some of his journals have been preserved, and one of the most interesting is this book of sins, published in 1662. Some of his sins included, “Using the word God openly, making pies on Sunday night, carelessly hearing and committing many sermons, having unclean thoughts, actions and dreams, punching my sister, not loving Thee for Thyself, and caring for worldly things more than God.” Number thirteen was rather intriguing; “Threatening my father and mother Smith to burn them and the house over them.” The young Isaac sounded like the typical teenager of his day."

What's "committing many sermons"?

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"As Isaac grew, more uprisings between the king and parliamentary forces were taking place. By the time Isaac was six, the Parliamentarians had put down most of the skirmishes in England. One of the leaders who stood against the king was Oliver Cromwell. He would successfully lead his men into battle time and time again.

"By 1648, members of Parliament had had it with the king. They knew about his secret alliances and the way he was scheming to remain in power, and they were debating whether he should stay as king or not. Finally, in December 1648, the army marched on Parliament and arrested many of them. This “Rump Parliament” was told to bring charges of treason against the king. This allowed Oliver Cromwell to rise to power.

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"The king was found guilty of high treason. He was beheaded at the Palace of Whitehall on January 30, 1649. Isaac Newton was all of seven years old and a student at The King's School, in Grantham. By now England no longer had a king. Neither did they have a Parliament, only a Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. Royalists, including Charles' son, also named Charles, had fled to the island of Jersey off the English coast to wait out this rule called the Commonwealth. They would be there for some time.

"While at school, Isaac loved his solitude. He sought solace in books. He didn't think much of literature or poetry but was deeply fascinated by mechanics and technology. He was taught Latin and Greek and also given a solid foundation in mathematics.

"By 1659, Isaac's mother had him returned to Woolsthorpe where she wanted him to be a farmer. Her second husband had died, and she needed Isaac to run the farm. He hated farming. The master of The King's School, Henry Stokes, pleaded with Hannah to have Isaac return. She relented, and Isaac came back to class, where he became the star student. He took a liking to building sundials and models of windmills.

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"While he was home, his mind never stopped conceiving. Newton recalled how he noticed how sunlight crept along the walls of his house. As the rays passed through the windows, they cast slanted edges. He observed how these slant edges shifted between sharp and bright images, revealing what looked to him to be a three-dimensional view.

"Interested in what he was seeing, the young Newton began drawing sketches of circles and arches trying to measure time. He measured small distances with strings and was able to calculate inches into minutes in an hour.

"At school, Newton kept to himself. Most other students socialized quite a bit, but he stuck to his books and did many chores to help pay for his schooling, as his mother gave him no money.

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"During this time, in the 1650s, England was without a ruler. Charles II had fled to his island of Jersey, and Oliver Cromwell continued small battles here and there. Cromwell was able to suppress the troops in Ireland where 3,500 people were massacred at the Battle of Drogheda. Ireland finally surrendered its troops to the English forces in 1653.

"With the king's execution, Scotland had looked to Charles II to become their new ruler. Cromwell couldn't prevent Charles from marching into Scotland, then deep into England where he was defeated. He was able to escape to France. Political control was now through Parliament.

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"By 1658, Oliver Cromwell was dead. His son Richard became Lord Protector, but the Army didn't like him. Eventually, he was removed, and the Rump Parliament was in charge.

"In April 1661, Charles II was restored to the throne of England. His coronation is known as The Restoration. In June that same year, Isaac Newton was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge. His uncle, the Reverend William Ayscough, had also studied there. Newton paid his way by performing valet's duties, until 1664, when he was awarded a scholarship. This guaranteed him four more years until he could get his master’s degree.

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"When Newton was at Trinity College, their teachings were based on those of Aristotle. Newton also supplemented his studies with learning about the philosophies of Descartes and Galileo. He kept a notebook known as Quaestiones all about mechanical philosophy. By 1665, Newton had discovered the general binomial theorem which led him to begin developing a mathematical theory which later became calculus.

"During his years at Trinity College, Newton was influenced by the scientific and literary revolutions going on in Europe at the time. Copernicus and Kepler had already conceived their heliocentric view of the universe, and this would later be refined by Galileo.

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"It seemed that anywhere you looked in Europe during these years, new ideas were percolating. Not only were religious reformers coming along, but theories of many different kinds were, at last, seeing the light of day. Rene Descartes, for instance, had developed a theory in mechanical philosophy which stated that the mind and body are two distinct entities and that they co-exist. This approach would eventually grow into the “mind-body dualism.”

"Newton began viewing the world as one which is made up of a combination of bodies existing together in harmony. He then took it upon himself to study these various bodies. His studies were the beginnings of quantum physics.

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"Although the college was still teaching courses in a traditional way, Newton spent much of his free time reading the books of modern philosophers. Then in 1664, Trinity College hired a professor of mathematics; the first time ever in their history. His name was Isaac Barrow, and he was only nine years older than Newton. He had become the first occupant of the Lucasian chair at Cambridge.

"Newton began attending his lectures and was drawn to his philosophies. By the end of the summer of 1665, Newton had obtained his bachelor’s degree. The college was then shut for some time, due to the recrudescence of the plague. Newton returned home. Back in Woolsthorpe, he continued to enrich himself by learning all he could about such subjects as optics, calculus, and the theory of gravitation.

"It was in his mother's garden that Newton had his famous epiphany about gravity. He watched an apple fall from a tree."

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"“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.”

"—Bernard Baruch"

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"It was while living at home in Woolsthorpe that something rather peculiar happened to Isaac Newton. Because the plague was once again making its rounds all over England, Trinity College was closed until the danger passed. So, Newton returned home and there engrossed himself in books.

"Isaac took himself outside and was sitting under an apple tree when, suddenly, down comes an apple and hits him on the head. Instantly Newton understands that this force—gravity—which made the apple fall towards the Earth, is the same force that keeps the Moon and the stars from crashing into Earth.

"Or maybe it didn't happen like that at all. Believe it or not, the apple didn't fall on Newton's head, and he didn't have an instant flash of inspiration about gravity at that moment. But, there is a truthful account of what ensued in the garden, which had been hidden away in the Royal Archives and revealed in 1752.

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"One William Stukeley recorded in his Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life a conversation he had with Newton in 1726.

"“We went into the garden & drank thea under the shade of some appletrees, only he & myself, he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. 'Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,' thought he to himself, occasioned by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a contemplative mood, 'why should it not go sideways or upwards? But constantly to the earth's center?' Assuredly the reason is, that the earth draws it, there must be a drawing power in matter & the sum of the drawing power in the matter of the earth must be in the earth’s center, not in any side of the earth. Therefore, does this apple fall perpendicularly, or toward the center. If matter thus draws matter, it must be in proportion of its quantity. Therefore the apple draws the earth, as well as the earth draws the apple.”

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"John Conduitt, Newton's assistant at the Royal Mint, also relayed the story that in the year 1666 while deep in thought and meandering around his mother's garden, Newton thought about an apple falling to the ground. The power of gravity was not limited to a certain distance from the earth, but this power must extend much further than was thought at the time. Newton speculated as to why the apple did not fall towards the Moon, and how, if the apple went into space, something would affect its orbit.

"With these thoughts in mind, Newton began calculating what would be the end results of all his speculating. In the 1660s, Newton was tackling the issue of gravity, as his notebooks attest. He believed that earthly gravity extends in an inverse-square proportion all the way to the Moon. Over time, he would edit this theory until his complete theory of gravity was established.

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"Newton knew there was such a force on Earth called gravity; what he was trying to determine was if that power extended out into the heavens and held the Moon in its orbit. He guessed that this force was also responsible for keeping other planets and moons in their orbits, and called what he had theorized “universal gravitation.”

"Over time, various trees are claimed to be “the” tree which Newton alluded to. The King's School, Grantham, purchased the tree and had it uprooted and transported to the headmaster's garden some years later. A descendant of the original tree is just outside the main gate of Trinity College, Cambridge, right below the room in which Newton lived while studying there.

"So, the apple story is the stuff of legend, after all. Whenever most people think of Isaac Newton, the apple falling on his head is sure to appear in their minds-eye. And according to Albert Einstein, scientists still don't fully understand the force of gravity."

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"In 1667, Newton was able to return to Cambridge when the plague epidemic had passed. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society there, and in 1668, Newton acquired his master's degree. He made a commitment that “I will either set Theology as the object of my studies and will take holy orders when the time prescribed by these statutes arrives, or I will resign from the college.”

"Newton was not particularly religious and up to this point, had not thought much about religion at all. He was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669, on the recommendation of Isaac Barrow. The Lucasian chair was founded by Henry Lucas in 1663. He was Cambridge University's Member of Parliament. This professorship had been officially established by King Charles II in 1664.

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"Anyone who had become a Fellow of a college at Cambridge or Oxford was required to take holy orders. This would have made Newton an ordained Anglican priest. The terms of the Lucasian professorship required that the holder actually not be an active member of the church; thereby being able to devote more time to scientific studies. Newton argued that this exemption should hold for him, too.

"Since the Reformation, rules that had once been strictly enforced were now disregarded or not enforced. King Charles II was also on the side of Isaac Newton. So, for the time being, a controversy between Church and State, was averted. This was one time where, it seemed, reason won out.

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"In 1670, when Newton was twenty-seven years old, he began teaching mathematics, now that he held the distinguished chair. In just three years’ time Newton aged tremendously; he let his hair grow to shoulder-length, and it became gray, he lost a lot of weight and walked with his shoulders stooped. At thirty years old, he looked like a much older man.

"Still, Newton continued to teach and inspire his students. He rarely accepted invitations out and saw virtually no one. He would work late in the evening, and many were the days that he failed to appear outside, taking his meals in and continuing to work on his theories. If he did appear in the dining hall, people soon learned not to try and engage him in conversation; all they would get for their trouble was a scowl."

Familiar stuff in conduct of colleagues who were, of course, centuries later.

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"As well as teaching mathematics, from 1670 to 1672, Newton lectured on optics. During this time he investigated the refraction of light. He would demonstrate with a prism. Prisms at the time were not used as scientific instruments; rather they were looked on as objects of entertainment. The standard against which all other glass was used was Venetian glass. But, these too had their defects.

"When light shone through it, it produced multi-colored light on the other side. This multi-colored spectrum presented by the prism could be recomposed into white light by a lens and a second prism.

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"Scientists such as Descartes, Robert Boyle, John Locke, and Isaac Newton were all leading corpuscularianists.

"Corpuscularianism is a physical theory that supposes all matter to be composed of minute particles. In the seventeenth century, this theory was important to all noted scientists. Corpuscularianism was a popular philosophy for centuries and was blended with alchemy. This was the beginning of chemistry, which hadn't been developed yet, and was concerned with attempts to convert certain base metals into gold.

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"Newton also showed that multi-colored light does not change its properties by separating out a colored beam and shining it on objects in its view. Newton noted that regardless of how the light was seen—reflected, transmitted, or scattered—it always remained the same color. From this observation, he was able to ascertain that color was the result of objects interacting with already-colored light rather than objects being the source of the color itself.

"There were scientists of the time who were adherents of the wave theory of light. They believed that light is made up of waves comprised of white light. They also believed that multi-colored light came from something being wrong in the glass through which it was reflected. Newton, of course, said that light is made up of particles and that the colored spectrum is caused by light as well.

"This theory of light was debated by Newton and others including Robert Hooke. It remained a mystery. Yet, from this work, Newton was able to conclude that the lens of any refracting telescope would suffer from the dispersion of light into colors. It wouldn't be until 1676 that Newton revealed the clearest and best prisms to use were the ones manufactured in London, not Italy.

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"It was in his work with optics that Newton concluded the lens of a refracting telescope would suffer from the dispersion of light into colors. A refracting telescope is a type of optical telescope, one that uses a lens as its objective to form images. They were originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes. Today, the reflecting telescope has mostly replaced it.

"To understand the concept Newton was talking about, he constructed a telescope using reflective mirrors instead of a lens. The mirrors were the objective used to form images. This new telescope became the first reflecting telescope ever. In 1668, by grinding his own mirrors, he was able to construct this telescope. It was only about eight inches in length but gave a much clearer and larger image than those used previously.

"In 1671, the Royal Society asked for a demonstration of his telescope. Because of the interest from the Royal Society, Newton published his notes, called On Colors, which later on he would expand into the work Opticks.

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"Robert Hooke, an English natural philosopher, and one of Newton's contemporaries criticized Newton's work. Instead of agreeing to discuss it further, Newton withdrew from any debate concerning his ideas. There were letters passed between the two men in 1679 and 1680. Even with the opening up of correspondence between them, their relationship never blossomed. It would remain poor right up until Hooke's death in 1703.

"Newton's theory of light went like this: light is composed of particles or corpuscles which were refracted by accelerating into a denser medium. Thin films had repeated patterns of reflection and transmission. Disposed particles would be reflected or transmitted according to Newton's Theory of Fits. By this, he meant that some particles when encountering an object, would “fit” between the atoms and some would not. Those that didn't “fit” would reflect.

"Today's photons and wave-particle duality, all parts of quantum mechanics, are only vaguely related to what Newton believed about the theory of light. In 1675, he published his hypothesis on light, where Newton suggested the existence of the ether to send forces between particles. This idea drew upon the ideas of Aristotle, whose writings were still very much in play at the time of Newton's discoveries. Aristotle's concept of aether, the fifth element, which represented the heavens and space, was used to explain the concept of light.

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"In 1704, Newton published his Opticks, where he explained his theory of light in detail. He considered light to be made up of extremely subtle corpuscles, while ordinary matter was composed of denser corpuscles. This book scrutinized the fundamental nature of light. He explained everything by means of the refraction of light with prisms and lenses, the diffraction of light using closely spaced sheets of glass, and the behavior of color mixtures, with pigment powders.

"What Opticks did was to set aside Aristotle's theory that pure light is at its basest only white or colorless light. Aristotle also believed that light is changed into color by mixing with the darkness that is caused by interactions with matter. Newton proposed just the opposite: light is composed of spectral hues, all different and all colors. He also stated that color is a sensation within the mind. It is not a property found within the material itself.

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"Opticks became vastly popular in England and the rest of Europe, and it was read by many. When the book was presented to the Royal Society, it kicked up the debate between Newton and Hooke. Many scientists, particularly in France, still held onto Aristotle's theory of white light; this would go on not only in Newton's lifetime but into the nineteenth century.

"One of those in Europe, who was also trying to figure out the theory of light, was a Dutch mathematician named Christiaan Huygens. He argued against the theory that Newton had put out. Newton believed that if light was made up of particles, then the thicker the medium it traveled through, the faster light would go.

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"Descartes and Huygens believed that light is composed of waves and the speed at which it moved would be slower when passing through denser mediums. None of the experiments that went on in Newton's lifetime, either by him or others, solved the mystery of light's origin. It wouldn't happen for another 150 years.

"To Newton's credit, in the end, it did turn out that he was correct; light is both particle and wave, and because of this it stumped scientists for centuries. Scientists in the nineteenth century combined Newton's particle theory with Huygens' wave theory to show that color is the physical manifestation of light's wavelength."

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"By 1679 Newton once again returned to his study of gravity and its effects on the orbits of planets. For the most part, he lived a life of solitude ... "

"Newton referenced Kepler's laws of planetary motion. In 1680 and 1681, Newton's interest in all things astronomical was reawakened by the appearance of a comet in the winter sky. This comet, found by Gottfried Kirch, became known as Newton's Comet because it was the first one to be discovered by telescope.

"It was while corresponding with Hooke, who by this time was managing all of the letters for the Royal Society, that Newton worked out what would become Newton's law of universal gravitation. ... "

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"Isaac Newton discovered one of the principal laws of physics with his law of universal gravitation. When Newton observed the apple falling from the tree branch to the ground, he recognized that the force behind it was gravity. The apple's acceleration must be dependent on the mass of the apple. And because the force acting to cause the apple's downward acceleration also causes the earth's upward acceleration, that force must depend upon the mass of the earth as well."

" ... Newton's law of universal gravitation extended that force beyond the earth. Newton didn't discover gravity; his discovery is that gravity is universal. All objects attract each other with a force of gravitational attraction."

" ... Newton's law of universal gravitation was eventually replaced by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, yet it continues to be used as an excellent approximation of the effects of gravity in most situations.

"By 1684 Newton sent his findings to Edmond Halley and to the Royal Society in a tract written on about nine sheets of paper. It was copied into the Royal Society's Register Book.

"This tract would form the basis of Newton's most famous work of all, his Principia. ... "

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"“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

"—Isaac Newton"

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"The years leading up to Newton's publishing of the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica or Principia , as it has come to be known, were productive ones. By 1684 Gottfried Leibnitz, a German philosopher had published his own paper on calculus and from that moment on there was a feud going between Leibnitz and Newton.

"Leibnitz wanted to discover how equations could describe the physical world. Newton then claimed he had done this exact work twenty years earlier and that Leibnitz had stolen his ideas. Newton hadn't published his work back then, and it was at this time that he went back to his old notes to prepare them for publication.

"Newton had been reluctant to publish his calculus findings because he feared rejection and ridicule from his peers. Yet, challenged by Robert Hooke to prove his theories about planetary orbits, Newton produced a book which would become the foundation for physics as we know it.

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"During his time at Trinity College, Newton would spend some time at the center court, usually with his colleague Isaac Barrow. He would quietly observe everything going on around him. Even when watching something like a simple game of tennis, his mind was racing off with scientific calculations.

"When struck by the racket, for instance, the tennis ball curved in either an upward or a downward direction. He saw that when the ball is hit diagonally, it acquires spin. The side of the ball that is struck by the racket then gains acceleration and motion. Newton had been thinking about just such a concept as this for a long time and seeing it happen before his eyes only brought more proof to his attention."

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" ... Galileo had studied inertia, and it applies to Newton's theories.

"Even before Galileo, people understood that something was needed, such as push, to keep an object moving. People believed that if you pushed a chair, for instance, the push is responsible for sustaining the speed at which the chair moves. Stop pushing and the chair ceases to move. Galileo looked at this differently. He believed when you stop pushing a chair, the chair continued to go along a certain distance without help from you. He stated that it was friction, or the force resisting the movement, that finally made the chair stop moving.

"Newton would build on Galileo's concept of inertia. He said that it was the frictional force that was dependent upon the mass of the objects. All objects resist change in their state of motion; this is because they are all in a state of inertia. It is the mass of an object which determines its tendency to resist change. The greater the mass of an object, the greater its tendency to resist change. Newton also said that the force behind the change in motion must be unbalanced."

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" ... Newton's laws of motion helped to create and construct many things. They are used to navigate airplanes, to measure planetary objects in space, to improve one's athletic abilities and to even foresee such things as car crashes.

"Newton had drawn on his over twenty years of notes when putting together the Principia. The book outlined his own theory of calculus, introduced the three laws of motion and included his account of his theory of universal gravitation. Suddenly, there was a new way to calculate the universe; a way which had never been done or achieved before.

"Newton published a manuscript before this one, titled De Motu Corporum in Gyrum or “On the motion of bodies in orbit” in 1684. It was from this tract that he laid out his most famous work of all, the Principia. Also in this work, Newton made clear his heliocentric view of the solar system.

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"When Newton's Principia appeared in 1687, it was received with the greatest admiration. Mathematicians and astronomers alike were marveling over this great work, as well as philosophers such as Voltaire and John Locke. The educated people of Europe also excitedly welcomed Newton's masterpiece."

" ... When Newton wrote the Principia, he was not contributing to a pre-existing field of study called mathematical physics; he was attempting something altogether different. He was trying to show how philosophers could use various numerical and experimental methods in order to reach conclusions about nature itself; especially about the motions of material bodies.

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So far, fine. But then why foes the author need to hurry to reassure people?

" ... Newton believed in God and would continue to believe in God for all of his scientific explorations."

Thst sounds more relevant to an institution that seeks to decide whether to subject Newton to an Inquisition, and its irrelevant to most people today.

If idiots wish to excommunicated him, they must do without any and all products of technology that stem from his work in any way.

Including cellphones that depend on satellites which are held in orbit due to gravity.

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"With the success of the Principia, Newton began looking beyond Trinity College for new challenges. In 1687, the university sent him along with a delegation to meet with King James II, to protest sending a Benedictine monk to Cambridge for a degree. The king was Catholic, and by 1688, England could take no more of him. In what is known as the Glorious Revolution, he was ousted from power. His daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange were invited to take over the throne. Mary consented only if both she and her husband would be co-rulers. This was the only time in English history that this would occur.

"In 1692, Newton represented Cambridge as a Member of Parliament. It was during this period that he also began suffering from insomnia and depression, and for about a year Newton underwent a nervous breakdown. He was so affected by any criticism that he became paranoid; accusing his friends of conspiring against him. He even wrote to John Locke claiming that Locke had “endeavoured to embroil me with woemen.”

"News of his “Black Year” spread far and wide; Huygens believed that Newton had gone insane. Yet he recovered quickly enough and wrote letters to his friends apologizing for his behavior. Now he lost interest in his scientific undertakings; something else was taking up his time, something more arcane and mystical.

"Newton turned his efforts towards alchemy. Alchemists didn't look for proof; rather they sought after those things which are mysterious and other-worldly. It seemed as if they lived in a world beyond reason. Often they were accused of witchcraft."

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"If ever there was a good idea for a medieval mystery, it would surely have involved alchemy. This secretive and mysterious practice is also a very ancient one; one that Isaac Newton spent half his life involved with. Those who knew him said he was on a constant quest for “the philosopher's stone.”

"This stone is a legendary substance with the ability to turn base metals such as mercury into gold or silver. Because it supposedly had the capacity to extend one's life, it was also called the elixir of life. By converting metals into gold, people believed it would lead them to a greater spiritual life.

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Author forgets to say "they thought" in the last sentence.

Or does someone - author, church, ... - think that the world did end then?

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"By the beginning of the eighteenth century, Newton was hailed as a hero. His writings were well-known, and his Principia was known throughout all of Europe. Yet this genius who had worked his way through mathematics and laid the basis for modern physics was also a dabbler in the ancient art of alchemy. Once in his sixties, Newton was practically obsessed with knowing all he could about this magical science."

"Despite endless experimentation, Newton's alchemical efforts bore little or no fruit. He might have been the last great mind to pursue alchemy, and he initially had great gusto for it; then as his experiments failed he found his interest waning badly. Modern science had yet to emerge; chemistry was alchemy and would be transformed in the coming centuries. It was the lure of magical thinking which drew Newton in, and it would be the failure of his experiments which would be its undoing.

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"By 1703 Newton was elected president of the Royal Society. Moving from a period of discovery to a period of political power, Newton's world was transformed. In 1705 he was knighted by Queen Anne, who was the daughter of William and Mary. This gave him the aristocratic ranking he had always craved. He drew a large monthly salary and employed servants who could take care of his luxurious surroundings.

"As president of the Royal Society, Newton actually started stepping out of his imposed self-isolation. He attended every meeting and found he enjoyed interacting with people. The Royal Society was finding themselves in financial straits, and Newton even propped them up with his own finances."

" ... Royal Society, which had always seemed an informal gathering of great minds was now brought to heel; they became, under Newton's guidance, a tightly disciplined organization, complete with sound financial backing."

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"“To the Master's honor all must turn, each in its track, without a sound, forever tracing Newton's ground.”

"—Albert Einstein

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"It was during this year, 1713, that the Royal Society formed a committee to decide, once and for all time, who had invented calculus. The committee found that Newton had beaten Leibnitz by quite a few years. Newton had been made the president of the Royal Society in 1705, and secretly, it had been him who wrote the report.

"Leibnitz would not go down without a fight, and he stubbornly refused to give in. In fact, the feud between the two men continued until both were dead. Today it is acknowledged that they developed calculus independently."

"Toward the end, Newton took up residence at Cranbury Park near Winchester. He remained there until his death. On March 20, 1727, Newton died in his sleep. The Royal Society noted that their next meeting wouldn't take place, due to the death of Isaac Newton.

"He was buried with full honors in Westminster Abbey. ... "