What was sir isaac newton findings

Principia is said to be the single most influential book on physics and possibly all of science. Its publication immediately raised Newton to international prominence. Principia offers an exact quantitative description of bodies in motion, with three basic but important laws of motion:. Force is equal to mass times acceleration, and a change in motion i. In Newton's account, gravity kept the universe balanced, made it work, and brought heaven and Earth together in one great equation.

Among the dissenters was Robert Hooke , one of the original members of the Royal Academy and a scientist who was accomplished in a number of areas, including mechanics and optics. While Newton theorized that light was composed of particles, Hooke believed it was composed of waves. Hooke quickly condemned Newton's paper in condescending terms, and attacked Newton's methodology and conclusions. Hooke was not the only one to question Newton's work in optics.

But because of Hooke's association with the Royal Society and his own work in optics, his criticism stung Newton the worst. Unable to handle the critique, he went into a rage—a reaction to criticism that was to continue throughout his life. Newton denied Hooke's charge that his theories had any shortcomings and argued the importance of his discoveries to all of science. In the ensuing months, the exchange between the two men grew more acrimonious, and soon Newton threatened to quit the Royal Society altogether.

He remained only when several other members assured him that the Fellows held him in high esteem. The rivalry between Newton and Hooke would continue for several years thereafter. Then, in , Newton suffered a complete nervous breakdown and the correspondence abruptly ended. The death of his mother the following year caused him to become even more isolated, and for six years he withdrew from intellectual exchange except when others initiated correspondence, which he always kept short.

During his hiatus from public life, Newton returned to his study of gravitation and its effects on the orbits of planets.

Ironically, the impetus that put Newton on the right direction in this study came from Robert Hooke. In a letter of general correspondence to Royal Society members for contributions, Hooke wrote to Newton and brought up the question of planetary motion, suggesting that a formula involving the inverse squares might explain the attraction between planets and the shape of their orbits.

Subsequent exchanges transpired before Newton quickly broke off the correspondence once again. But Hooke's idea was soon incorporated into Newton's work on planetary motion, and from his notes it appears he had quickly drawn his own conclusions by , though he kept his discoveries to himself.

In early , in a conversation with fellow Royal Society members Christopher Wren and Edmond Halley, Hooke made his case on the proof for planetary motion. Both Wren and Halley thought he was on to something, but pointed out that a mathematical demonstration was needed. In August , Halley traveled to Cambridge to visit with Newton, who was coming out of his seclusion. Halley idly asked him what shape the orbit of a planet would take if its attraction to the sun followed the inverse square of the distance between them Hooke's theory.

Newton knew the answer, due to his concentrated work for the past six years, and replied, "An ellipse. Upon the publication of the first edition of Principia in , Robert Hooke immediately accused Newton of plagiarism, claiming that he had discovered the theory of inverse squares and that Newton had stolen his work. The charge was unfounded, as most scientists knew, for Hooke had only theorized on the idea and had never brought it to any level of proof.

Newton, however, was furious and strongly defended his discoveries. He withdrew all references to Hooke in his notes and threatened to withdraw from publishing the subsequent edition of Principia altogether. Halley, who had invested much of himself in Newton's work, tried to make peace between the two men. While Newton begrudgingly agreed to insert a joint acknowledgment of Hooke's work shared with Wren and Halley in his discussion of the law of inverse squares, it did nothing to placate Hooke.

As the years went on, Hooke's life began to unravel. His beloved niece and companion died the same year that Principia was published, in As Newton's reputation and fame grew, Hooke's declined, causing him to become even more bitter and loathsome toward his rival.

To the very end, Hooke took every opportunity he could to offend Newton. Knowing that his rival would soon be elected president of the Royal Society, Hooke refused to retire until the year of his death, in Following the publication of Principia , Newton was ready for a new direction in life. He no longer found contentment in his position at Cambridge and was becoming more involved in other issues. He helped lead the resistance to King James II's attempts to reinstitute Catholic teaching at Cambridge, and in he was elected to represent Cambridge in Parliament.

While in London, Newton acquainted himself with a broader group of intellectuals and became acquainted with political philosopher John Locke. Though many of the scientists on the continent continued to teach the mechanical world according to Aristotle , a young generation of British scientists became captivated with Newton's new view of the physical world and recognized him as their leader.

However, within a few years, Newton fell into another nervous breakdown in The cause is open to speculation: his disappointment over not being appointed to a higher position by England's new monarchs, William III and Mary II, or the subsequent loss of his friendship with Duillier; exhaustion from being overworked; or perhaps chronic mercury poisoning after decades of alchemical research.

It's difficult to know the exact cause, but evidence suggests that letters written by Newton to several of his London acquaintances and friends, including Duillier, seemed deranged and paranoiac, and accused them of betrayal and conspiracy. Oddly enough, Newton recovered quickly, wrote letters of apology to friends, and was back to work within a few months.

He emerged with all his intellectual facilities intact, but seemed to have lost interest in scientific problems and now favored pursuing prophecy and scripture and the study of alchemy. While some might see this as work beneath the man who had revolutionized science, it might be more properly attributed to Newton responding to the issues of the time in turbulent 17th century Britain.

Many intellectuals were grappling with the meaning of many different subjects, not least of which were religion, politics and the very purpose of life. Modern science was still so new that no one knew for sure how it measured up against older philosophies. If you are interested in helping with the website we have a Volunteers page to get the process started. Digging Deeper. Digging Deeper: Depression and the Past. Digging Deeper: Germs and Disease.

Digging Deeper: Milk and Immunity. How Do We See? How Do We Sense Smell? How Do We Sense Taste? How Do We Sense Touch? What is Evolutionary Medicine? What's a Biologist? What's a GMO? A force may be thought of as a push or pull in a specific direction. First Law of Motion: Inertia An object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion along a straight line unless moved by an outside force.

Second Law of Motion: Acceleration An object will accelerate if force is applied to it. Acceleration is the rate of change of an object's velocity. The acceleration will happen in the direction of the force. For a fixed force, bigger objects will have a smaller acceleration. For example, say Object A hits Object B.

This means that A is exerting a force on B in a certain direction. By Newton's third law, A is also receiving a force by B. The two forces are equal and are directed in opposite directions. The Latin title is translated as Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy , and the book is commonly known as the Principia. At that point, he served as the head of Britain's Royal Mint, which printed money and created coins.

He also served in Parliament, a branch of the British government, and wrote on religion, among other things. As a personality, Newton was solitary when young, and vain and vengeful in his later years, Rees says.

He "sabotaged his rivals," Rees adds. He said Newton "was a complex character, who also pursued alchemy"—the search for a method to turn common metals into gold.

As Master of the Mint, Newton showed no mercy toward counterfeit coin-makers sentenced to death, Wallace says. In , at 84, Sir Isaac Newton died in his sleep. He was buried with much ceremony in Westminster Abbey in London, England. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

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