Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) English scientist who explained the Law of Gravity and the Laws of Motion. Newton was a polymath who made studies in mathematics, optics, physics, and astronomy. His Principia Mathematica, (1687) laid the foundations for classical mechanics.

• Sir Isaac Newton was born premature and had little to no chance of survival. It was a Christmas morning in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire.
• He was born on 4 January 1643 [O.S. 25 December 1642], the same year, Galileo died.

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• Newton had an uncanny obsession with Bible. He studied Bible at great depths and wrote more on religion than about science or mathematics.
• His father, who was a farmer, died three months before Newton was born. He was raised by his grandmother after his mother remarried.
• Newton hated his stepfather and threatened to burn his house down. 
• History tells that he was not a good student who would excel in studies. He had to work as a servant to pay his bills and he liked to keep a journal of his ideas and thoughts.
• Did you know that Sir Isaac Newton’s father’s name was also Isaac Newton?
• During his school-age years, he disliked poetry and literature and was fascinated by technology and mechanics. He developed sundials which were very accurate.
• Newton had written in his college notebooks about himself, “Making pies on Sunday night… punching my sister… threatening my Father and Mother Smith to burn them and the house over them.”
• Despite being a scientist, Newton was extremely religious. Newton himself said:
• Newton’s mother wanted him to be a farmer but Newton disliked farming.
• Isaac Barrow, who is Cambridge’s first professor of mathematics, is the source of inspiration behind Newton’s work on Calculus.
• Newton worked on diffraction of light, universal gravitation, centrifugal force, centripetal force, and the effects and characteristics of bodies in motion.
• Weirdly enough, despite being a very religious man, he never believed in ghosts, spirit, devil and Satan.
• Newton did not like criticism and made lifelong enemies with those who criticized him.
• When Newton was being criticized by fellow scientists, he began a life of solitude and total isolation in 1679 and remained in this state for the next 6 years of his life.
• He owned more books on historical subjects than on science.

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• Interestingly, Newton was very secretive during his entire career.
• Newton suffered twice with a nervous breakdown. This happened when he suspected that his friends conspired against him.
• Newton was notorious for his bad temper and conflicts with other people. In particular Hooke and Leibniz.
• There is no concrete evidence about the famous apple hitting Newton in his head, and inspiring him about his research on gravitation and the related theories.
• Newton was obsessed with power and reputation.