Isaac Newton was born on December 25, 1642 in the small town of Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth in England. Newton was named after his father. However, Newton never met his father, as his father died prior to his birth. Despite his eventual success as a scientist, he was originally willed by his widowed mother to become a farmer. However, Newton was uninterested in farming. In addition to Newton’s lack of interest in farming, Newton was the top student in his class, and the headmaster of his school willed Newton’s mother to allow him to finish school (Wilson 2016). Eventually, Newton became known for his work in many fields, including mathematics, physics and philosophy. Newton continued onto college, starting at Trinity College in Cambridge in June of 1661. There, Newton studied the teachings of his many predecessors- Galileo, Descartes and others. After studying the teachings of the scientists and mathematicians that came before him, Newton discovered gaps in preexisting theory (Westfall 2017). From there, Newton crafted a list of questions about those gaps, with the intention of eventually answering his own questions. Using the list of questions that Newton compiled himself, Newton went on to develop his first …show more content…
However, eventually, Newton began studying optics—the study of the dispersion and behavior of light. However, Newton faced criticism while studying optics, which eventually led to his withdrawal from the public eye (Westfall 2017). Fortunately, while Newton was away from the public eye, he was compelled to begin working on the laws of gravitation—a theory partially derived from his previous studies. Newton’s laws of gravity would eventually become what Newton was most known for. Mathematics played a huge role in Newton’s success. For example, Newton’s work in the field of physics would have been impossible without his prior knowledge in mathematics and the theories of Calculus that he