Biography of Sir Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician that was born on January 4th 1643 in Woolsthorpe, England and died at age 84 on March 31st 1727 in Kensington, England. Newton was the only son of a farmer who died before he was born. His mother remarried when he was three and left him with his grandparents. When her second husband died she returned to live with Isaac. From age twelve to seventeen, Newton was taught at The King’s School, Grantham. At one point he had to leave to help his mother run the family farm. He was horrible at helping and returned to school. In 1661 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. It was at this point he started to become interested in more advanced sciences than what was …show more content…
During this time Newton went back to his home and his private studies helped the development of his theories on calculus, optics and gravitation. In 1667 the university had re-opened and he was elected a fellow of Trinity. In 1668 Newton invented a reflecting telescope that helped to prove his theory of light and colour. A year later he became the Lucasian professor of maths. In 1671 the Royal Society asked for a demonstration of his reflecting telescope. Motivated by their interest, Newton published his notes on light, optics and colour in 1672. Renowned scientist Robert Hooke didn’t agree with Newton and condemned his work. The rivalry between Newton and Hooke continued for several years until 1678, when Newton had a complete nervous breakdown and withdrew from the world to study gravity. In 1687 Newton published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) which contained his theory of gravity and his laws of motion. In 1696 Newton was made warden of the Mint and then master of the Mint in 1699. As master of the Mint, Newton moved the British currency from the silver standard to the gold