Isaac Newton Research Paper

Sarah DeGarso
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton made a multitude of discoveries that are still relevant in today’s academia. Many people have referred to him as one of the most important scientist that has ever lived. He is mostly known by his Theory of Universal Gravity and laws of motion, Newton’s laws, but he also influenced the areas of math and optics. Newton had a passion for alchemy and astrology. Today Newton’s laws of motion and gravity theory are still taught in schools as one of the most fundamental parts of physical science. Newton’s discoveries made an impact on academics and how the physical world was viewed.
Isaac Newton was born in 1642 in Lincolnshire, England. He attended trinity College at Cambridge University from 1661 to 1665
where for the majority of the time studied logic, ethics, physics, and rhetoric of Aristotle. (The Life and Work of Isaac Newton2012 ) between 1664 and 1667 Newton, influenced by the work of Galileo, Descartes, and Kepler, invented calculus, worked with spectrums, and made the discoveries that led to the law of universal gravitation. In 1667 he was elected a fellow of Trinity College. He became Lucasian professor in 1669 and was elected into the Royal Society in 1672.
It is very well known that Isaac Newton first received the idea of universal gravity when he witnessed an apple falling in his family orchard. He compared the force needed to hold the moon in earth’s orbit to the force he calculated that pulled the apple to the ground. To describe centripetal force Newton compared the force needed to hold a stone in a sling compared to the length of the sling with a planets orbit. (Alfred Rupert Hall 1998) The Theory of Universal Gravity states that “every body attracts every other with a force directly proportional to the square of the distance between them” (Storr 1985).Newton published his findings on the laws of motion in his first book Principia in 1687. In the book he describes acceleration, deceleration, and inertia, movements of the planets and moon, and fluid dynamics.
Newton created three laws of motion.
The first one states that a body at rest will remain at rest and a body in motion will stay in motion at a constant speed in a straight line unless a force acts upon it. The second law states that any change of motion in a body is in proportion to the force pressing on it, and takes place in the direction of a straight line in which the pressing force acts. The last law states that for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction. It can also be phrased as; when one body acts on another body the forces are equal in opposite directions. (R.H. 1999)
Newton’s second book was about his study of light which revolves around his experiments with prisms. Newton set up a glass prism so that a beam of white light hit it. This white light passed through the prism and showed three different colors on the other side. Newton used a couple screens and a second prism in this experiment to isolate one color from the first prism. He did this to prove that the prism was not coloring the
light.
Newton concluded that white light is made up of seven different colors. He thought of light as being straight rays instead of the waves we now know to be true. He used this knowledge to create a telescope that showed clear images. The telescopes before this one showed very blurry pictures. Newton’s third book, System of the World, stated the Universal Theory of Gravity. He used the theory to explain the movement of the planets once more. (WriteWork.com 2008)
Newton also expanded the binomial theorem. He created a formula that would work for all values of n in (a+b)n. This work on the binomial theorem and his concentration in the infinite series, -1<n<1, led to his invention of calculus. (Laura Smoller 2001) Isaac Newton is officially known as the co inventor of calculus. When Newton had invented calculus, 1665-1667, he struggled to publish his findings right away. By the time Newton’s findings were published, a German mathematician, Gottfried Leibniz, had already published his own findings of calculus. The two men were eventually made co inventors although Newton had made the discovery first and Leibniz had published the findings first. Newton made some huge contributions to academics in such a short period of time that he was bound to have a few flukes. Newton had written quite a lot on the subject of Alchemy but, the Royal Society deemed the work unfit. He was very determined to be successful in transmuting lead into gold, which caused him to spend all night and day in his laboratory. This is why some speculate that Newton turned down professorship at Cambridge to become Directory of Mint. (D.W.Hauk 2012) Isaac Newton was so influential to the people of the time that he lived in that Alexander Pope wrote a poem about him. Newton was also the first scientist to be buried in Westminster Abbey. (Chew 2012) In 1705 Newton was knighted by Queen Anne.
Newton’s discoveries effect how people view the universe, physical science, and light. Before Isaac Newton’s Theory of Universal Gravity people believe that the planets of the universe where held up by invisible shields. (Bellis 2012) Although another scientist would have eventually discovered that gravity is universal; it might not have been till later which could have delayed other discoveries about the Earth and space. Before Newton had done his experiment with light and prisms, majority of people believed that the prism itself was coloring the light. Calculus is very important in present day higher education. The binomial theorem, with Newton’s expansion, is also still taught today as well.

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