Nearly all of the major telescopes used in astronomy today are reflecting telescopes. In 1668 Newton also invented the reflecting telescope, a type of telescope which uses mirrors to reflect light and form an image. It not only introduced the theory of gravity which helped to explain the movements of the planets and the Sun, but defined the principals of modern physics.Īnd to think that he only wrote his thoughts down in the Principia at the urging of his friend (and famous astronomer) Edmond Halley! This work made him world famous and would go down as one of the most important works in the history of science. In this masterwork he described the three laws of motion as well (outlined above) as well as the law of universal gravity. In 1687 Newton published one of the most groundbreaking and important works EVER…called the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (basically the "Mathematical principals of Natural Philosophy"). Which leads us nicely on to: The Principia. Nice one Isaac, you basically just figured out why the universe works. Guess what that ‘external force’ was by the way? Yup, right in one – Gravity. Newton's Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton's Second Law: The equation F = ma, where m is the mass of the object, F is the net force, and a is the acceleration. Newton's First Law: An object in motion stays in motion, and an object at rest stays at rest unless an external force acts upon it. You may have heard of Newton's Laws of Motion which laid the foundation for classical physics and mechanics, in particular his first and third laws (paraphrased below). In 'addition' to his vast contributions in the fields of mathematics, Newton is also credited with the advancement of many topics in (among other things), philosophy, astronomy and physics.
It even took the greatest brains of his time 50 years to grasp some of his contributions (including Newton's identities, Newton's method, and the generalized binomial theorem). In fact Newton contributed much to the field of mathematics that few of us will ever even understand. For instance, when he was frustrated by the limitations of conventional maths, he just went right ahead and invented Calculus, an important type of math used in advanced engineering and science. Have you ever watched University Challenge? Well, those bright sparks would have been as children to the great man. This wasn’t a show of eccentricity conducted for the purposes of self publicity however, as his brain was very much concerned with higher things. He also stated that one of his greatest achievements was to die a virgin. For instance, he once famously inserted a long needle into his eye socket and wriggled it around ‘betwixt my eye and the bone, as near to the back side of my eye as I could’ just to ‘see’ what would happen, and he would reputedly, on swinging his feet out of bed in the morning, sometimes sit for hours immobilized by the sudden rush of thoughts to his head. So yes, Newton did engage in some English eccentricities. This very same brilliance led him to be called by luminaries no less than Albert Einstein and Bill Bryson (another brilliant man, who I’m going to unashamedly paraphrase here), 'almost certainly the cleverest man that has ever lived'. Because the 2 most striking things about him are his oddball and verrry eccentric behaviour (though I’m not sure of his fly swatting abilities) and in equal measure (but doubled obviously), his utter, utter brilliance. Well, kinda like an apple falling from a tree, the answer’s quite simple. The reason I mention this is because I kind of associate this ratio with how I think of Sir Isaac Newton. Sometimes, when I’m trying to swat a fly at home, my wife will joke that I'm at a massively unfair advantage because I’m twice their size and at least four times as clever. In this month’s blog we’re turning to possibly one of the greatest (albeit a tad miserable) Britons of all time.as I grapple with the massive intellect of Sir Isaac Newton. Prestige Apartments Blog The History of Isaac Newton - Where to discover Newton
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