Born on December 25, 1642, Sir Isaac Newton was a mathematician, physicist, and scientist whose work included discovering calculus, gravity, Newton’s Rings, developing the three Laws of Motion and four Rules of Scientific Reasoning, and inventing items like the reflecting telescope. He is described as one of the founders of modern-day physics, well respected by the people of his time, and still renowned by the modern scientific community. The New Scientist describes Newton as “the supreme genius and most enigmatic character in the history of science.”
Although Newton and his accomplishments are well-known by many people today, still, there are some things you might have missed about him. Therefore, here are some fun facts you need to know about this significant man.
10 Important Events in the Life of Isaac Newton
1. Newton’s birth as a miracle baby. Newton’s birth took place on a cold winter night. When he exited the womb, he was premature and so tiny that no one expected him to live. However, he beat the odds. He was the son of Hannah Ayscough Newton and Isaac Newton, a prosperous farmer. Sadly, his father died three months before the birth of his son.
2. Newton’s early education. Newton started his basic education at King’s School in Grantham, Lincolnshire. While attending school, he started living with an apothecary, where he got his first taste of chemistry.
3. Newton’s mother wanted him to leave school and become a farmer. As Newton grew into a teenager, he wasn’t fond of school, and his grades were poor. At 12 years old, His mother stopped him from attending school and wanted him to take up farming. Newton had no interest in farming. Thanks to his headmaster speaking up for him, Newton’s mother gave in and returned the boy to school. His mother’s decision for him to return to school paid off—after graduation, he enrolled in Trinity College University, where he worked hard at his studies.
4. Newton discovers gravity. It was during his two years break away from teaching at Cambridge University that Newton discovered the law of gravity. As Newton sat in his mother’s garden, he saw an apple fall from a tree and got inspired by it. He then embarked on a study and invented his theory of universal gravitation. His theory suggests that the same force that caused the apple to fall from the tree applies to the moon. This became known as one of his most fundamental discoveries.
5. Sir Isaac Newton receives a knighthood. Besides Newton’s contribution to science, he also worked in the political arena. On April 17, 1705, England’s Queen Anne visited Trinity College in Cambridge and gave Isaac Newton the distinguished position of knight. It was said that the queen knighted Sir Isaac because of his role in politics.
6. Newton becomes a parliamentarian. From 1689-1690, Isaac Newton served as a member of parliament, representing Cambridge University. He reportedly contributed little during his tenure, but the position placed him among influential people like King William III, John Locke the philosopher, and others. Newton served a second term in 1701-1702.
7. Newton executes forgers. In 1696, Newton became the warden of the Royal Mint, responsible for producing England’s currency. Since the mint was located in London, he had to resign from his Cambridge position and relocate. After three years as the mint’s warden, Newton was promoted to Master of the Mint, giving him more power and prestige. Newton made a major change by removing the country’s old gold coins, replacing them with a more dependable currency. He was also responsible for bringing counterfeiters to justice, so he became familiar with the London black market. Whenever a suspect was caught, Newton would personally carry out the questioning process. Some forgers that were caught ended up on the gallows. Newton received many death threats while carrying out his duties.
8. Newton becomes president of the Royal Society. In 1703, Newton was elected the president of the prestigious Royal Society. Throughout his presidency, he made many enemies within the Royal Society, mainly due to his stance on his discoveries. Still, his presidency led to more recognition from the scientific world at large.
9. Newton gains a rival. German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz claimed that he invented calculus before Newton did. Newton refuted this claim, claiming that Leibniz had plagiarized his unpublished work after documents summarizing it were made public through the Royal Society. This disagreement started a bitter feud between Newton and Leibniz, and the Royal Society set up a committee to investigate the matter. Since Newton served as the Royal Society’s president for several years, he still had some influence. He chose his supporters to sit on the investigating committee and wrote the report, which accredited him for discovering calculus. Over the years, scientists and historians have concluded that Leibniz and Newton developed their ideas independently. Leibniz’s calculus system has proved more popular and is used worldwide by many people.
10. Newton develops an interest in alchemy. Apart from pursuing more conventional scientific discoveries, Newton also studied alchemy. His research involved searching for the philosopher’s stone that could reportedly turn iron, lead, and other ordinary metals into gold. Newton kept his research to himself, never revealing his conclusions.
10 Famous Quotes by Isaac Newton
1. “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
2. “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”
3. “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.”
4. “He who thinks half-heartedly will not believe in God; but he who really thinks has to believe in God.”
5. “To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.”
6. “To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age. ‘Tis much better to do a little with certainty and leave the rest for others that come after than to explain all things by conjecture without making sure of anything.”
7. “Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.”
8. “Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.”
9. “Live your life as an Exclamation rather than an Explanation.”
10. “No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.”
What You Probably Didn’t Know about Isaac Newton
1. Newton hated criticism. Although Newton was a brilliant scientist, he didn’t like anyone questioning his work, much less criticizing his discoveries. When he discovered new information about the qualities of light, he published some of his findings in his book Of Colours, then stopped discussing his ideas when Robert Hooke criticized him. Newton waited until after Hooke’s death to publish his work on light, in his book Optics.
2. Newton struggled with his mental health. Newton sometimes went into depressive states, including hallucinations where he was seen conversing with nonexistent people.
3. Newton had a dark side. Newton was difficult to deal with, sometimes losing his temper and taking his anger out on people. At 19 years old, he threatened to set fire to his parent’s house with them inside. He once gave a young man named Arthur Storer a sore beating and later recorded the incident in his list of confessions with the heading, “Beating Arthur Storer.”
4. Newton never married. Newton paid little attention to women, although there were rumors that he was dating a rich woman at one time in his life. The relationship did not amount to anything, and Newton eventually stopped seeing her.
5. Newton was a Christian. Newton professed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, read the Bible, and wrote numerous works on Christianity. However, he kept many of his writings to himself, and many knew him to be an unusual Christian. He believed and affirmed that Jesus Christ was the world’s savior but took issue with teachings about the trinity.
6. Newton belonged to the Enlightenment period. During the Enlightenment period, many people would question the validity of the teachings of leading church figures, reasoning that the voice of science was stronger than the church’s traditional teachings. Various scientists used Newton’s book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy to argue that humanity didn’t need faith in God to understand or argue the world’s existence and functions.
7. Newton had some surprising interests. The division between scientific research and what we now consider the occult was not as defined in Newton’s time. Various scientific figures dabbled in studies like alchemy, astrology, and sorcery. Newton’s interest in alchemy led to him getting lead poisoning. He also studied eschatology and demonology.
8. Newton predicted the world ending. Newton’s writings about eschatology included predicting that the world would end sometime around 2060. He later elaborated that the world’s end would be around that year, possibly afterward. He reached this conclusion by comparing his mathematical calculations with the Book of Daniel.
9. Newton searched the Bible for codes. Newton believed the Bible had codes that shed light on his alchemy experiments, the end times, and mathematical codes that would give him knowledge about how nature works.
10. Newton believed that religion and science could coexist. Newton believed that religion and science must play a part together in the affairs of the world. He was a dedicated Christian who took his beliefs seriously. He was the owner of more than sixty Bibles, with each Bible heavily annotated by him.
While some of Newton's ideas are unconventional by the standards of today, his life was one of brilliance.
Further Reading:
Scientists of Faith Found Royal Society
Isaac Newton Before the Ocean of Truth
How Did the Enlightenment Impact the Church?
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
Lancelot Tucker is a book author and freelance writer who writes on a vast amount of topics. In addition, he serves as an associate pastor in his hometown, Spanish Town. Lancelot loves to do research and write, and is an avid reader of other authors' works. When not writing or reading, he spends his time reaching out to the less fortunate residing in his community.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
How Did the Apostle Paul Die?
Who are the Nicolaitans in Revelation?
Who Was Deborah in the Bible?
Who Was Moses in the Bible?
King Solomon's Story in the Bible
Who Was Lot's Wife in the Bible?
Who Was Jezebel in the Bible?
Who Was the Prodigal Son?
