Isaac Newton Research Paper

Possibly one of the most decorated figures of the seventeenth century, scientist and mathematician Isaac Newton revolutionized the world of physics, mathematics, and science. The physicist was born on January 4, 1643 in Woolsthorpe, United Kingdom. Despite being born prematurely and, thus, being extremely weak, Newton survived infancy and during his childhood, was raised and expected by his mother to become a farmer. However, he lacked talent in cultivation, so his mother decided to enroll him in King Edward XIV Grammar School. Thereafter, Newton attended the Trinity College at Cambridge University, where he was expected to study the work of the philosopher Aristotle. However, he developed a passionate interest in advanced math and sciences,

Before his discovery, algebra and geometry had been used for at least a century, and the newest development in math was the logarithm, which became known to the public in the early 1600’s. Although the three of these topics were considered innovating upon their origination, the invention of calculus provided answers to questions people thought unfathomable. For instance, Newton himself used calculus to explain planetary motion around the Sun. By using conic sections and advanced calculus, Newton was able to confirm that the planets travel around the Sun in an elliptical shape. Additionally, in 1817, years after its discovery, calculus was used yet again to answer another mind-bending question: is light made of particles or waves? Augustin-Jean Fresnel, a young, French scientist, used integrals—a pivotal component of calculus—to prove that light is, in fact, made of waves. Today, calculus is used every day in scientific fields. For example, biologists are constantly using calculus to predict growth rates of organisms when certain factors are changed. Ultimately, Isaac Newton’s discovery of calculus radically changed the world in regards to math and

According to David Berlinksi’s book, Newton’s Gift, the universal law of gravitation states that “every material object attracts every other material object with a force that is proportional to its mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.” With the law of universal gravitation, Newton was able to determine that the force of gravity extends beyond the moon. With this revelation, Newton answered a question asked by many in the 17th century: he explained why the moon did not drift off its orbit, either out into space or closer to the Earth. First, Newton calculated the centrifugal force—the force that pushes the moon outward into space—and then revealed that the moon and the Earth have attractive forces, better known as gravitational forces, that cancel out the centrifugal forces, thus explaining why the moon’s orbit is undisturbed. Newton’s law of gravity proved its influence in the world of science in 1846 when mathematician Urban Le Verrier predicted the presence of Neptune. Using the law of universal gravitation, he noticed that the orbit of Uranus was irregular by the standards set by the law. Le Verrier realized that the only explanation for its orbital disturbances was that another body was exhibiting attractive forces on it. Sure enough, he was proven correct when astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle viewed the planet