Sir Isaac Newton is an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, creator of classical mechanics, who made the greatest scientific discoveries in the history of mankind.
Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 (according to the Gregorian calendar) in the village of Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire. He received his name in honor of his father, who died 3 months before the birth of his son. Three years later, Isaac's mother, Anna Ayskow, remarried. Three more children were born in the new family. And Isaac Newton was taken in by his uncle, William Ayscough.
Childhood
The house where Newton was born
Ros Isaac closed and silent. He preferred reading to socializing with his peers. He liked to make technical toys: kites, windmills, water clocks.
At the age of 12, Newton began to attend school in Grantham. He lived at that time in the house of the pharmacist Clark. Perseverance and diligence soon made Newton the best student in the class. But when Newton was 16 years old, his stepfather died. Isaac's mother brought him back to the estate and assigned him household duties. But this did not please Newton at all. He did little housekeeping, preferring reading to this boring occupation. One day, Newton's uncle, finding him with a book in his hands, was amazed to see that Newton was solving a mathematical problem. Both the uncle and the school teacher convinced Newton's mother that such a capable young man should continue his studies.
Trinity College
Trinity College
In 1661, 18-year-old Newton was enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge University as a student sizer (sizar). Such students were not charged tuition fees. They had to pay for their education by doing various jobs at the University or serving rich students.
In 1664, Newton passed his exams, became a student-scholar (scholars) and began to receive a scholarship.
Newton studied, forgetting about sleep and rest. Studied mathematics, astronomy, optics, phonetics, music theory.
In March 1663, the department of mathematics was opened at the college. It was headed by Isaac Barrow, a mathematician, future teacher and friend of Newton. In 1664 Newton discovered binomial expansion for an arbitrary rational exponent. This was Newton's first mathematical discovery. Newton would later discover mathematical method of expanding a function into an infinite series. At the end of 1664 he received a bachelor's degree.
Newton studied the works of physicists: Galileo, Descartes, Kepler. Based on their theories, they created universal system of the world.
Newton's program phrase: "In philosophy there can be no sovereign, except for truth ...". Isn't that where the famous expression came from: "Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer"?
Years of the Great Plague
The years from 1665 to 1667 were the period of the Great Plague. Classes at Trinity College ended and Newton left for Woolsthorpe. He took all his notebooks and books with him. In these difficult "plague years" Newton did not stop doing science. Through various optical experiments, Newton proved that white is a mixture of all colors of the spectrum. Law of gravity- this is Newton's greatest discovery, made by him in the "plague years". Newton finally formulated this law only after the discovery of the laws of mechanics. And these discoveries were published only decades later.
Scientific discoveries
Newton telescope
At the beginning of 1672, the Royal Society demonstrated reflecting telescope that made Newton famous. Newton became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1686 Newton formulated three laws of mechanics, described the orbits of celestial bodies: hyperbolic and parabolic, proved that the Sun also obeys the general laws of motion. All this was set forth in the first volume of Principia Mathematica.
In 1669 Newton's world system began to be taught at Cambridge and Oxford. Newton also becomes a foreign member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. In the same year, Newton was appointed manager of the Mint. He leaves Cambridge for London.
In 1669 Newton was elected to Parliament. He stayed there for only a year. But in 1701 he was re-elected there. In the same year, Newton retired from his post as professor at Trinity College.
In 1703, Newton became president of the Royal Society and remained in this post until the end of his life.
In 1704, the monograph "Optics" was published. And in 1705 Isaac Newton was awarded the title of knight for his scientific merits. This happened for the first time in the history of England.
The famous collection of lectures on algebra, published in 1707 and called "Universal Arithmetic", marked the beginning of the birth of numerical analysis.
In the last years of his life, he wrote the "Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms", prepared a guide to comets. Newton calculated the orbit of Halley's comet very accurately.
Isaac Newton died in 1727 in Kensington near London. Buried in Westminster Abbey.
Newton's discoveries allowed mankind to make a giant breakthrough in the development of mathematics, astronomy, and physics.
The activity of Isaac Newton was complex - he worked simultaneously in several fields of knowledge. An important stage in Newton's activity was his mathematical ones, which made it possible to improve the system of calculation within the framework of others. An important discovery of Newton was the fundamental theorem of analysis. She made it possible to prove that the differential calculus is the opposite of the integral one and vice versa. An important role in the development of algebra was also played by Newton's discovery of the possibility of the binomial expansion of numbers. Also, Newton's method for extracting roots from equations, which greatly simplified such calculations, played an important practical role.
Newtonian mechanics
Newton made the most significant discoveries. In fact, he created such a branch of physics as mechanics. He formed 3 axioms of mechanics, called Newton's laws. The first law, otherwise called the law, states that any body will be at rest or in motion until any forces are applied to it. Newton's second law illuminates the problem of differential motion and says that the acceleration of a body is directly proportional to the resultant of the forces applied to the body and inversely proportional to the mass of the body. The third law describes the interaction of bodies with each other. Newton formulated it as the fact that for an action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton's laws became the basis of classical mechanics.
But Newton's most famous discovery was the law of universal gravitation. He was also able to prove that the forces of gravity apply not only to terrestrial, but also to celestial bodies. These laws were described in 1687 after Newton's publication on the use of mathematical methods in .
Newton's law of gravitation became the first of numerous theories of gravity that subsequently arose.
Optics
Newton devoted a lot of time to such a branch of physics as optics. He is as important as the spectral decomposition of colors - with the help of a lens, he learned to refract white light into other colors. Thanks to Newton, knowledge in optics was systematized. He created the most important device - a mirror telescope, which improved the quality of observations for.
It should be noted that after the discoveries of Newton, optics began to develop very rapidly. He was able to generalize such discoveries of his predecessors as diffraction, double refraction of the beam and the speed of light.
Studying Newton's laws at school, some students memorize only their theoretical data and formulas, but they are absolutely not interested in how great the person who made such important discoveries was. Newton made a huge contribution to the development of man's ideas about the world around him in the 18th century.
Isaac Newton is a famous English mathematician and physicist. The great scientist was born on January 4, 1643 according to the Gregorian calendar (December 25, 1642 - according to the Julian calendar) in a small Woolsthorpe in England.
Isaac Newton is known for having created the theoretical foundations of astronomy and mechanics. Among his merits is the invention of the mirror telescope, the discovery of the law of universal gravitation, the writing of extremely important research papers, as well as the development of integral and differential calculus. True, the latest work was done by Newton together with another famous scientist Leibniz. Isaac Newton is considered the founder of "classical physics".
The great scientist came from a farming family. Little Isaac studied first at Grantham School, then at Trinity College, Cambridge University. After graduation, the future scientist was awarded a bachelor's degree.
The most productive years on the road to great discoveries were the years of seclusion. They fell on the year 1665-1667, when the plague was raging. At this time, Newton was forced to live in Woolsthorpe. It was during this period that the most important research was done. For example, the discovery of the law of universal gravitation.
Isaac Newton is buried in Westminster Abbey. The date of death of the scientist is determined on March 31, 1727 according to the Gregorian calendar (March 20, 1727 - Julian style).
Dr. Richard W. Hamming, in his lecture "You and Your Discoveries," described how to make a great discovery. He emphasized that any average person is capable of this. The main thing is to apply the efforts of your mind correctly. Hamming summarized his experience at Bell Labs, where he worked side by side with the great scientists of our time.
Instruction
To begin with, you need to drop all conventions and ask yourself one honest question: “Why don’t I do something significant in my life?” Any person is capable of this. The main thing is intention.
You need to stop believing in luck and believe that a great discovery is the result of hard work. "Fortune favors the prepared mind." If your mind is prepared, sooner or later, you will succeed and catch your luck. Luck is the result of your efforts.
It takes courage to make a great discovery. The courage to put forward ideas and the courage to defend them. The courage to formulate your thoughts and the courage to ask questions and wonder.
Being bold in expressing your thoughts is possible only if you believe that you will be able to make a great discovery.
You need to work on small tasks. Small but important. Tasks should be within your power. As soon as you try to solve a global problem right away, you fail. Remember, the mind must be prepared.
A great discovery is often made in working conditions that are considered difficult, imperfect, uncomfortable. The creative process needs boundaries. When you find yourself in difficult working conditions, it is important not to give up. It is important to think about how to overcome them. Look for solutions to how a disadvantage can be turned into a virtue.
Sir Isaac Newton. Born December 25, 1642 - died March 20, 1727. English physicist, mathematician, mechanic and astronomer, one of the founders of classical physics. The author of the fundamental work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", in which he outlined the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of mechanics, which became the basis of classical mechanics. He developed differential and integral calculus, color theory, laid the foundations of modern physical optics, created many other mathematical and physical theories.
Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, on the eve of the Civil War. Newton's father, a small but prosperous farmer Isaac Newton (1606-1642), did not live to see his son's birth.
The boy was born prematurely, was painful, so they did not dare to baptize him for a long time. And yet he survived, was baptized (January 1), and named Isaac in memory of his father. The fact of being born on Christmas Day was considered by Newton to be a special sign of fate. Despite poor health as an infant, he lived to be 84 years old.
Newton sincerely believed that his family goes back to the Scottish nobles of the 15th century, but historians have discovered that in 1524 his ancestors were poor peasants. By the end of the 16th century, the family had grown rich and moved into the category of yeomen (landowners). Newton's father left a large sum of 500 pounds sterling for those times and several hundred acres of fertile land occupied by fields and forests.
In January 1646, Newton's mother, Hannah Ayscough (1623-1679), remarried. She had three children with her new husband, a 63-year-old widower, and began to pay little attention to Isaac. The boy's patron was his maternal uncle, William Ayskoe. As a child, Newton, according to contemporaries, was silent, withdrawn and isolated, loved to read and make technical toys: sun and water clocks, a mill, etc. All his life he felt lonely.
His stepfather died in 1653, part of his inheritance passed to Newton's mother and was immediately issued by her to Isaac. The mother returned home, but her main attention was paid to the three youngest children and the extensive household; Isaac was still on his own.
In 1655, 12-year-old Newton was sent to study at a nearby school in Grantham, where he lived in the house of the apothecary Clark. Soon the boy showed extraordinary abilities, but in 1659 his mother Anna returned him to the estate and tried to entrust the 16-year-old son with part of the management of the household. The attempt was not successful - Isaac preferred reading books, versification and especially the construction of various mechanisms to all other activities.
At this time, Anna was approached by Stokes, Newton's school teacher, and began to persuade her to continue the education of an unusually gifted son; this request was joined by Uncle William and Grantham acquaintance of Isaac (relative of the apothecary Clark) Humphrey Babington, a member of Trinity College Cambridge. Together, they eventually succeeded.
In 1661, Newton successfully graduated from school and went to continue his education at Cambridge University.
In June 1661, 18-year-old Newton arrived in Cambridge. According to the statute, he was given an examination in Latin, after which he was informed that he was admitted to Trinity College (College of the Holy Trinity) of Cambridge University. More than 30 years of Newton's life are connected with this educational institution.
The college, like the entire university, was going through a difficult time. The monarchy had just been restored in England (1660), King Charles II often delayed the payments due to the university, dismissed a significant part of the teaching staff appointed during the years of the revolution. In total, 400 people lived in Trinity College, including students, servants and 20 beggars, to whom, according to the charter, the college was obliged to give alms. The educational process was in a deplorable state.
Newton was enrolled in the ranks of student "sizers" (sizar), from whom they did not take tuition fees (probably on the recommendation of Babington). According to the norms of that time, the sizer was obliged to pay for his education through various jobs at the University, or by providing services to wealthier students. There are very few documentary evidence and memories of this period of his life. During these years, the character of Newton was finally formed - the desire to get to the bottom, intolerance to deceit, slander and oppression, indifference to public glory. He still didn't have any friends.
In April 1664, Newton, having passed his exams, moved into the higher student category of "schoolboys" (scholars), which made him eligible for a scholarship and continued education in college.
Despite the discoveries of Galileo, science and philosophy were still taught at Cambridge. However, Newton's surviving notebooks already mention Cartesianism, Kepler and Gassendi's atomistic theory. Judging by these notebooks, he continued to make (mainly scientific instruments), enthusiastically studied optics, astronomy, mathematics, phonetics, and music theory. According to the memoirs of a roommate, Newton selflessly indulged in teaching, forgetting about food and sleep; probably, despite all the difficulties, this was exactly the way of life that he himself desired.
The year 1664 in Newton's life was also rich in other events. Newton experienced a creative upsurge, began independent scientific activity and compiled a large-scale list (of 45 points) of unresolved problems in nature and human life (Questionnaire, Latin Questiones quaedam philosophicae). In the future, such lists appear more than once in his workbooks. In March of the same year, the lectures of a new teacher, 34-year-old Isaac Barrow, a prominent mathematician, future friend and teacher of Newton, began at the newly founded (1663) department of mathematics of the college. Newton's interest in mathematics increased dramatically. He made the first significant mathematical discovery: the binomial expansion for an arbitrary rational exponent (including negative ones), and through it he came to his main mathematical method - the expansion of a function into an infinite series. At the very end of the year, Newton became a bachelor.
The scientific support and inspirers of Newton's creativity to the greatest extent were physicists: Galileo and Kepler. Newton completed their works by uniting them into a universal system of the world. Lesser but significant influence was exerted by other mathematicians and physicists: Fermat, Huygens, Wallis and his immediate teacher Barrow.
In Newton's student notebook there is a program phrase: "In philosophy, there can be no sovereign, except for truth ... We must erect monuments of gold to Kepler, Galileo, Descartes and write on each: "Plato is a friend, Aristotle is a friend, but the main friend is truth"".
On Christmas Eve 1664, red crosses began to appear on London houses, the first marks of the Great Plague. By the summer, the deadly epidemic had expanded considerably. On August 8, 1665, classes at Trinity College were discontinued and the staff disbanded until the epidemic ended. Newton went home to Woolsthorpe, taking with him the basic books, notebooks and tools.
These were disastrous years for England - a devastating plague (only in London, a fifth of the population died), a devastating war with Holland, the Great Fire of London. But Newton made a significant part of his scientific discoveries in the solitude of the "plague years". It can be seen from the notes that have survived that the 23-year-old Newton was already fluent in the basic methods of differential and integral calculus, including the expansion of functions into series and what was later called the Newton-Leibniz formula. Having carried out a number of ingenious optical experiments, he proved that white is a mixture of colors of the spectrum.
But his most significant discovery during these years was law of gravity. Later, in 1686, Newton wrote to Halley: "In papers written more than 15 years ago (I cannot give the exact date, but, in any case, it was before the start of my correspondence with Oldenburg), I expressed the inverse quadratic proportionality of the planets' gravity to the Sun depending on the distance and calculated the correct the relation of the earth's gravity and the conatus recedendi [tendency] of the moon to the center of the earth, although not entirely accurate".
The inaccuracy mentioned by Newton was due to the fact that Newton took the dimensions of the Earth and the value of the acceleration of gravity from Galileo's Mechanics, where they were given with a significant error. Later, Newton received more accurate Picard data and was finally convinced of the truth of his theory.
well known the legend that Newton discovered the law of gravity by watching an apple fall from a tree branch. For the first time, “Newton's apple” was briefly mentioned by Newton's biographer William Stukeley (book “Memoirs of the Life of Newton”, 1752): “After dinner, warm weather set in, we went out into the garden and drank tea in the shade of apple trees. the idea of gravity came to him while he was sitting under a tree in the same way.He was in a contemplative mood when suddenly an apple fell from a branch. "Why do apples always fall perpendicular to the ground?" he thought.
The legend became popular thanks to Voltaire. In fact, as can be seen from Newton's workbooks, his theory of universal gravitation developed gradually.
Newton Isaac. Newton's bone of contention
Another biographer, Henry Pemberton, gives Newton's reasoning (without mentioning the apple) in more detail: "Comparing the periods of several planets and their distances from the Sun, he found that ... this force must decrease in quadratic proportion with increasing distance." In other words, Newton discovered that from Kepler's third law, which relates the periods of revolution of the planets to the distance to the Sun, it is precisely the "inverse square formula" for the law of gravity (in the approximation of circular orbits) that follows. The final formulation of the law of gravitation, which was included in the textbooks, was written out by Newton later, after the laws of mechanics became clear to him.
These discoveries, as well as many of the later ones, were published 20-40 years later than they were made. Newton did not pursue fame.
In 1670 he wrote to John Collins: “I see nothing desirable in fame, even if I were capable of earning it. This would probably increase the number of my acquaintances, but this is exactly what I try to avoid most of all.
He did not publish his first scientific work (October 1666), which outlined the basics of analysis, it was found only 300 years later.
In March-June 1666, Newton visited Cambridge. However, in the summer, a new wave of plague forced him to leave home again. Finally, in early 1667, the epidemic subsided, and in April Newton returned to Cambridge. On October 1, he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, and in 1668 became a master. He was given a spacious private room to live in, a salary of £2 a year, and a group of students with whom he conscientiously studied standard subjects for several hours a week. However, neither then nor later did Newton become famous as a teacher, his lectures were poorly attended.
Having consolidated his position, Newton traveled to London, where shortly before, in 1660, the Royal Society of London was established - an authoritative organization of prominent scientists, one of the first Academies of Sciences. The organ of the Royal Society was Philosophical Transactions.
In 1669, mathematical works began to appear in Europe using expansions into infinite series. Although the depth of these discoveries did not go to any comparison with Newton's, Barrow insisted that his student fix his priority in this matter. Newton wrote a brief but fairly complete summary of this part of his discoveries, which he called "Analysis using equations with an infinite number of terms". Barrow sent this treatise to London. Newton asked Barrow not to reveal the name of the author of the work (but he still let it slip). "Analysis" spread among specialists and gained some notoriety in England and beyond.
In the same year, Barrow accepted the invitation of the king to become a court chaplain and left teaching. On October 29, 1669, the 26-year-old Newton was elected as his successor, professor of mathematics and optics at Trinity College, with a high salary of £100 a year. Barrow left Newton an extensive alchemical laboratory; during this period, Newton became seriously interested in alchemy, conducted a lot of chemical experiments.
Simultaneously, Newton continued experiments in optics and color theory. Newton investigated spherical and chromatic aberrations. To minimize them, he built a mixed reflecting telescope: a lens and a concave spherical mirror, which he made and polished himself. The project of such a telescope was first proposed by James Gregory (1663), but this idea was never realized. Newton's first design (1668) was unsuccessful, but the next one, with a more carefully polished mirror, despite its small size, gave a 40-fold increase in excellent quality.
Word of the new instrument quickly reached London, and Newton was invited to show his invention to the scientific community.
In late 1671 and early 1672, a reflector was demonstrated before the king, and then at the Royal Society. The device received rave reviews. Probably, the practical importance of the invention also played a role: astronomical observations served to accurately determine the time, which in turn was necessary for navigation at sea. Newton became famous and in January 1672 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Later, improved reflectors became the main tools of astronomers; with their help, the planet Uranus, other galaxies, and redshift were discovered.
At first, Newton valued communication with colleagues from the Royal Society, which included, in addition to Barrow, James Gregory, John Vallis, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Christopher Wren and other famous figures of English science. However, tedious conflicts soon began, which Newton did not like very much. In particular, a noisy controversy flared up about the nature of light. It began with the fact that in February 1672 Newton published in "Philosophical Transactions" a detailed description of his classical experiments with prisms and his theory of color. Hooke, who had previously published his own theory, stated that Newton's results did not convince him; it was supported by Huygens on the grounds that Newton's theory "contradicts conventional wisdom". Newton responded to their criticism only six months later, but by this time the number of critics had increased significantly.
The avalanche of incompetent attacks caused Newton to become irritated and depressed. Newton asked the secretary of the Oldenburg Society not to send him any more critical letters and gave a vow for the future: not to get involved in scientific disputes. In letters, he complains that he is faced with a choice: either not to publish his discoveries, or to spend all his time and all his energy on repelling unfriendly amateurish criticism. In the end, he chose the first option and made a declaration of resignation from the Royal Society (March 8, 1673). Oldenburg, not without difficulty, persuaded him to stay, but scientific contacts with the Society were reduced to a minimum for a long time.
In 1673 two important events took place. First, by royal decree, Newton's old friend and patron, Isaac Barrow, returned to Trinity, now as head ("master") of the college. Second: he became interested in Newton's mathematical discoveries, known at that time as a philosopher and inventor.
After receiving Newton's 1669 work on infinite series and studying it in depth, he further independently began to develop his own version of analysis. In 1676, Newton and Leibniz exchanged letters in which Newton explained a number of his methods, answered questions from Leibniz, and hinted at the existence of even more general methods, not yet published (meaning the general differential and integral calculus). The secretary of the Royal Society, Henry Oldenburg, insistently asked Newton to publish his mathematical discoveries on analysis for the glory of England, but Newton replied that he had been working on another topic for five years and did not want to be distracted. Newton did not answer another letter from Leibniz. The first brief publication on the Newtonian version of analysis appeared only in 1693, when Leibniz's version had already spread widely throughout Europe.
The end of the 1670s was sad for Newton. In May 1677, 47-year-old Barrow died unexpectedly. In the winter of the same year, a strong fire broke out in Newton's house, and part of Newton's manuscript archive burned down. In September 1677, the secretary of the Royal Society of Oldenburg, who favored Newton, died, and Hooke, who was hostile to Newton, became the new secretary. In 1679, Anna's mother fell seriously ill; Newton, leaving all his affairs, came to her, took an active part in caring for the patient, but his mother's condition quickly worsened, and she died. Mother and Barrow were among the few people who brightened up Newton's loneliness.
In 1689, after the overthrow of King James II, Newton was elected for the first time to Parliament from the University of Cambridge and sat there for a little over a year. The second election took place in 1701-1702. There is a popular anecdote that Newton took the floor to speak in the House of Commons only once, asking that the window be closed to keep out the draft. In fact, Newton performed his parliamentary duties with the same conscientiousness with which he treated all his affairs.
Around 1691, Newton became seriously ill (most likely, he was poisoned during chemical experiments, although there are other versions - overwork, shock after a fire that led to the loss of important results, and age-related ailments). Relatives feared for his sanity; the few surviving letters of his from this period do indeed testify to mental disorder. Only at the end of 1693 did Newton's health fully recover.
In 1679, Newton met at Trinity an 18-year-old aristocrat, lover of science and alchemy, Charles Montagu (1661-1715). Probably Newton made the strongest impression on Montagu, because in 1696, having become Lord Halifax, President of the Royal Society and Chancellor of the Exchequer (that is, the Minister of Finance of England), Montagu proposed to the king appoint Newton to be caretaker of the Mint. The king gave his consent, and in 1696 Newton took up this position, left Cambridge and moved to London. Since 1699, he became the manager ("master") of the Mint.
To begin with, Newton thoroughly studied the technology of coin production, put the paperwork in order, redid the accounting for the last 30 years. At the same time, Newton energetically and skillfully contributed to the monetary reform carried out by Montagu, restoring confidence in the monetary system of England, which had been thoroughly launched by his predecessors.
In England of these years, almost exclusively underweight coins were in circulation, and counterfeit coins were in considerable quantity. Trimming of the edges of silver coins has become widespread. Now, the coin began to be produced on special machines and there was an inscription along the rim, so that the criminal grinding of metal became almost impossible.
The old, underweight silver coin was completely withdrawn from circulation and re-minted for 2 years, the issue of new coins increased to keep up with the demand for them, their quality improved. Earlier, during such reforms, the population had to change the old money by weight, after which the amount of cash decreased both among individuals (private and legal), and throughout the country, but interest and loan obligations remained the same, which caused the economy to begin stagnation. Newton proposed to exchange money at face value, which prevented these problems, and the inevitable after such a shortage of funds was made up by taking loans from other countries (most of all from the Netherlands), inflation dropped sharply, but external public debt grew by the middle of the century to unprecedented levels in the history of England sizes. But during this time, there was a noticeable economic growth, because of it, tax deductions to the treasury increased (equal in size with the French, despite the fact that France was inhabited by 2.5 times more people), due to this, the public debt was gradually paid off.
However, an honest and competent person at the head of the Mint did not suit everyone. From the very first days, complaints and denunciations rained down on Newton, and inspection commissions constantly appeared. As it turned out, many denunciations came from counterfeiters irritated by Newton's reforms.
Newton, as a rule, was indifferent to slander, but never forgave if it affected his honor and reputation. He personally participated in dozens of investigations, and more than 100 counterfeiters were hunted down and convicted; in the absence of aggravating circumstances, they were most often sent to the North American colonies, but several ringleaders were executed. The number of counterfeit coins in England has been greatly reduced. Montagu, in his memoirs, praised Newton's extraordinary administrative abilities, which ensured the success of the reform. Thus, the reforms carried out by the scientist not only prevented an economic crisis, but also, decades later, led to a significant increase in the country's welfare.
In April 1698, the Russian Tsar Peter I visited the Mint three times during the “Great Embassy”. Unfortunately, the details of his visit and communication with Newton have not been preserved. It is known, however, that in 1700 a monetary reform similar to the English one was carried out in Russia. And in 1713, Newton sent the first six printed copies of the 2nd edition of "Beginnings" to Tsar Peter in Russia.
Two events in 1699 became a symbol of Newton's scientific triumph: the teaching of Newton's world system began at Cambridge (since 1704, also at Oxford), and the Paris Academy of Sciences, a stronghold of his Carthusian opponents, elected him as its foreign member. All this time, Newton was still a member and professor of Trinity College, but in December 1701 he officially resigned from all his posts at Cambridge.
In 1703, the president of the Royal Society, Lord John Somers, died, having attended meetings of the Society only twice during the 5 years of his presidency. In November, Newton was chosen as his successor and ran the Society for the rest of his life - more than twenty years.
Unlike his predecessors, he personally attended all meetings and did everything to ensure that the British Royal Society took an honorable place in the scientific world. The number of members of the Society grew (among them, in addition to Halley, Denis Papin, Abraham de Moivre, Roger Cotes, Brooke Taylor can be distinguished), interesting experiments were carried out and discussed, the quality of journal articles improved significantly, financial problems were alleviated. The society acquired paid secretaries and its own residence (on Fleet Street), Newton paid for the moving costs from his own pocket. During these years, Newton was often invited as a consultant to various government commissions, and Princess Caroline, the future Queen of Great Britain, spent hours talking with him in the palace on philosophical and religious topics.
In 1704, the monograph "Optics" was published (first in English), which determined the development of this science until the beginning of the 19th century. It contained an appendix "On the quadrature of curves" - the first and fairly complete exposition of the Newtonian version of calculus. In fact, this is Newton's last work in the natural sciences, although he lived for more than 20 years. The catalog of the library he left behind contained books mainly on history and theology, and it was to these pursuits that Newton devoted the rest of his life.
Newton remained the manager of the Mint, since this post, unlike the post of caretaker, did not require him to be especially active. Twice a week he went to the Mint, once a week - to a meeting of the Royal Society. Newton never traveled outside of England.
Newton is a gloomy heretic
Newton was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705. From now on, he is Sir Isaac Newton. For the first time in English history, a knighthood was awarded for scientific merit; the next time it happened more than a century later (1819, in reference to Humphry Davy). However, some biographers believe that the queen was guided not by scientific, but by political motives. Newton acquired his own coat of arms and not very reliable pedigree.
In 1707, a collection of Newton's lectures on algebra was published, called "Universal Arithmetic". The numerical methods presented in it marked the birth of a new promising discipline - numerical analysis.
In 1708, an open priority dispute with Leibniz began, in which even the reigning persons were involved. This feud between two geniuses cost science dearly - the English school of mathematics soon reduced its activity for a whole century, and the European school ignored many of Newton's outstanding ideas, rediscovering them much later. The conflict was not extinguished even by the death of Leibniz.
The first edition of Newton's Elements was sold out long ago. Newton's many years of work on the preparation of the 2nd edition, revised and supplemented, was crowned with success in 1710, when the first volume of the new edition was published (the last, third - in 1713).
The initial circulation (700 copies) turned out to be clearly insufficient, in 1714 and 1723 there was an additional printing. When finalizing the second volume, Newton, as an exception, had to return to physics in order to explain the discrepancy between the theory and experimental data, and he immediately made a major discovery - the hydrodynamic compression of the jet. The theory is now in good agreement with experiment. Newton added to the end of the book "Instruction" with a scathing critique of the "vortex theory" with which his Cartesian opponents tried to explain the motion of the planets. To the natural question “how is it really?” the book follows the famous and honest answer: “I still could not deduce the cause ... of the properties of the force of gravity from phenomena, but I do not invent hypotheses.”
In April 1714, Newton summarized his experience of financial regulation and submitted to the Treasury his article "Observations on the Value of Gold and Silver". The article contained specific proposals for adjusting the value of precious metals. These proposals were partially accepted, and this had a favorable effect on the British economy.
Shortly before his death, Newton became one of the victims of a financial scam by a large trading South Sea Company, which was supported by the government. He bought a large amount of the company's securities, and also insisted on their acquisition by the Royal Society. On September 24, 1720, the company's bank declared bankruptcy. Niece Catherine recalled in her notes that Newton lost over 20,000 pounds, after which he declared that he could calculate the movement of celestial bodies, but not the degree of crowd madness. However, many biographers believe that Catherine did not mean a real loss, but a failure to receive the expected profit. After the company went bankrupt, Newton offered to compensate the Royal Society out of his own pocket, but his offer was rejected.
Newton devoted the last years of his life to writing the "Chronology of the Ancient Kingdoms", which he worked on for about 40 years, as well as to the preparation of the third edition of the "Beginnings", which was published in 1726. Unlike the second edition, the changes in the third edition were small - mainly the results of new astronomical observations, including a fairly complete guide to comets observed since the 14th century. Among others, the calculated orbit of Halley's comet was presented, the reappearance of which at the indicated time (1758) clearly confirmed the theoretical calculations of the (by that time already deceased) Newton and Halley. The circulation of the book for the scientific edition of those years could be considered huge: 1250 copies.
In 1725, Newton's health began to noticeably deteriorate, and he moved to Kensington near London, where he died at night, in his sleep, on March 20 (31), 1727. He did not leave a written will, but shortly before his death he transferred a significant part of his large fortune to his closest relatives. Buried in Westminster Abbey.
Legends and myths about Newton:
Several common legends have already been cited above: “Newton's apple”, his only parliamentary speech.
There is a legend that Newton made two holes in his door - one larger, the other smaller, so that his two cats, large and small, could enter the house on their own. In reality, Newton never kept cats or other pets.
Another myth accuses Newton of destroying the only portrait of Hooke, once held by the Royal Society. In fact, there is not a single piece of evidence in favor of such an accusation. Allan Chapman, Hooke's biographer, argues that no portrait of Hooke existed at all (which is not surprising, given the high cost of portraits and Hooke's constant financial difficulties). The only source of the assumption of the existence of such a portrait is the mention of the portrait of a certain “Hoock” (Hoock) who visited the Royal Society in 1710, but Uffenbach did not speak English and, most likely, had in mind a portrait of another member of the society, Theodor Haack (Theodore Haak). The portrait of Haack really existed and has survived to this day. An additional argument in favor of the opinion that there was never a portrait of Hooke is the fact that Hooke's friend and secretary of the Society, Richard Waller, published in 1705 a posthumous collection of Hooke's works with excellent quality of illustrations and a detailed biography, but without Hooke's portrait; all other works of Hooke also do not contain a portrait of the scientist.
Newton is credited with an interest in astrology. If he was, it quickly gave way to disappointment.
From the fact of Newton's unexpected appointment as Governor of the Mint, some biographers conclude that Newton was a member of a Masonic lodge or other secret society. However, no documentary evidence has been found to support this hypothesis.
Newton's works:
"A New Theory of Light and Colors" - 1672
"The movement of bodies in orbit" - 1684
"Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" - 1687
"Optics or Treatise on Reflections, Refractions, Curvature and Colors of Light" - 1704
"On the quadrature of curves" - an appendix to "Optics"
"Enumeration of lines of the third order" - an appendix to "Optics"
"Universal Arithmetic" - 1707
"Analysis by means of equations with an infinite number of terms" - 1711
"Method of Differences" - 1711
"Lectures on Optics" - 1728
"System of the World" - 1728
"Brief Chronicle" - 1728
"Chronology of ancient kingdoms" - 1728
"Remarks on the Book of the Prophet Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John" - 1733
"Method of Fluxions" - 1736
"Historical Tracing of Two Notable Corruptions of the Holy Scriptures" - 1754.
Isaac Newton's brief biography is outlined in this article.
Isaac Newton short biography
Isaac Newton- English mathematician, astronomer, physicist, mechanic, who laid the foundations of classical mechanics. He explained the movement of celestial bodies - the planets around the Sun and the Moon around the Earth. His most famous discovery was the law of gravity.
Was born December 25, 1642 years in a farming family in the town of Woolsthorpe near Grantham. The father died before he was born. From the age of 12 he studied at Grantham School. He lived at that time in the house of the pharmacist Clark, which, perhaps, aroused in him a craving for chemical sciences.
1661 entered Trinity College, Cambridge University as a subsizer. After graduating from college in 1665, Newton received a bachelor's degree. 1665–67, during the plague, was in his native village of Woolsthorpe; these years were the most productive in Newton's scientific work.
In 1665-1667, Newton developed ideas that led him to the creation of differential and integral calculus, the invention of a mirror telescope (made by him in 1668 with his own hands), and the discovery of the law of universal gravitation. Here he conducted experiments on the decomposition (dispersion) of light. It was then that Newton outlined a program for further scientific growth
In 1668 he successfully defended his master's degree and became a senior member of Trinity College.
In 1889 receives one of the chairs of the University of Cambridge: the Lucas Chair of Mathematics.
In 1671 Newton built his second mirror telescope, larger and of better quality than the first. The demonstration of the telescope made a strong impression on his contemporaries, and shortly thereafter (in January 1672) Newton was elected a member of the Royal Society of London - the English Academy of Sciences.
In the same 1672, Newton submitted to the Royal Society of London his research on a new theory of light and colors, which caused a sharp controversy with Robert Hooke. Newton owns the idea of monochromatic light rays and the periodicity of their properties, substantiated by the most subtle experiments.
Since 1696, Newton has been appointed Warden of the Mint by Royal Decree. His vigorous reform efforts are rapidly restoring confidence in the UK monetary system. 1703 - Election of Newton as president of the Royal Society, which he ruled for 20 years. 1703 - Queen Anne knights Newton for scientific merit. In the last years of his life, he devoted a lot of time to theology and ancient and biblical history.
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 fellow mathematicians and astronomers, but 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.
