Isaac Newton
1643 – 1727 English physicist, mathematician
The physicist who unified the heavens and earth under universal gravitation.
- Religion
- A private, heterodox Christian who rejected the Trinity, holding Arian views he kept secret; he wrote more on theology and alchemy than on physics.
- Affiliations
- President of the Royal Society. No evidence he was a Freemason, despite later esoteric legend.
Newton stated the laws of motion and universal gravitation in the Principia, explaining both falling apples and orbiting planets with one system. He invented calculus, analyzed light into its colors, and built the first reflecting telescope. He also poured decades into alchemy and biblical prophecy.
Connections
- rival of Gottfried Leibniz — Bitter priority dispute over the invention of calculus.
- rival of Gottfried Leibniz — They fought bitterly over who invented calculus first.
- rival of Robert Hooke — They clashed over light and over credit for the inverse-square law.
In the timeline
- 1684 Newton and Leibniz, and the calculus priority dispute mentioned
- 1687 Newton publishes the Principia mentioned
- 1687 Newton's Principia founds modern physics mentioned
- 1717 Isaac Newton fixes the price of gold central figure