9.3: Mathematics
- Page ID
- 172931
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Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) was an English mathematician. In 1687, he published the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, which posited a single universal law of gravitation that applied equally to enormous objects like the planet Earth and tiny objects that could barely be detected by human senses. The entire system of physics was mapped out and described in precise, and accurate, mathematical formulas that would replace the work of ancient authors like Aristotle.
Newton was one of the great intellectual over-achievers of all time. He correctly calculated the relative mass of earth and water, deduced that electrical impulses had something to do with the nervous system, and figured out that all colors are part of the larger spectrum of light. Further, he personally designed and built a new and more effective kind of telescope, and wrote the founding paper of the modern science of optics.
Figure 9.3.1: Newton’s treatise on the properties of light, the founding document of optics.
On a personal level, Newton was a humorless curmudgeon. He only reluctantly published his work after fearing that his self-understood “rivals” would steal it if he did not.