91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Person    | Male  Born 4/1/1643  Died 31/3/1727

Sir Isaac Newton

Categories: Science, Seriously Famous

Sir Isaac Newton

Born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, on Christmas day, according to the calendar in use at the time. Died in Kensington (where he had gone in search of country air). The exact dates of birth and death vary from source to source. Buried Westminster Abbey.

He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1660. He propounded the laws of motion, universal gravitation, optics and the basis of differential calculus. He was Master of the Mint from 1699 - 1727, President of the Royal Society from 1703 - 26 and was knighted in 1705. Used to feature on the £1 note.

It is sometimes said that he lived in Leicester Square, but he actually lived nearby at 35 St. Martin's Street.

It is also said that Newton was practically an agelast, as tells us: Isaac Newton's assistant at Cambridge claimed that during five years he saw Newton laugh only once. Newton had loaned a copy of Euclid {geometry} to an acquaintance, and the gentleman asked what use it was to study Euclid, "upon which Sir Isaac was very merry".

It's said that Newton loved animals and invented the cat-flap. Despite this, Newton may not have been a very nice man - he enjoyed witnessing the executions of the counterfeiters he pursued as part of his job at the Mint, and he had a major falling out with Robert Hooke, not speaking to him for the rest of his life. He fought a vicious feud with Leibniz over who invented the calculus. Newton's allegation that Leibniz had stolen his ideas was aggressive and destructive. It is now accepted that Newton wrote down the calculus first and Leibniz was the first to publish, while most schoolboys wish it had never been invented at all.

Buried in Westminster Abbey.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Isaac Newton

Commemorated ati

British Library - Newton

Bronze, 12 foot high (and he's sitting down).  Via Facebook Henri Hudson has ...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

City of London School 4 - Newton

{On the statue's plinth:} Newton

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Isaac Newton bust

Isaac Newton, 25 December 1642 - 20 March 1727, scientist, mathematician, phi...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Show all 11

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Sir Isaac Newton

Creations i

St Stephen's School - Boys entrance

The two S's probably indicate 'St Stephen's'.

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Other Subjects

Sir Joseph Banks

Sir Joseph Banks

From the British Library: "Joseph Banks was a prominent botanist, who served as President of the Royal Society, and advised on the development of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. He was a key figu...

Person, Science

3 memorials
James D. Watson

James D. Watson

Molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist. Born Chicago as James Dewey Watson. 1962 awarded a Nobel Prize with Crick and Wilkins, for their work on the theory of a double-helix structure for DN...

Person, Science, USA

1 memorial
Sir Charles Parsons

Sir Charles Parsons

Scientist and engineer. Designed marine turbines. Born 13 Connaught Place, Hyde Park into an aristocratic family. Died on board the liner The Duchess of Richmond, after taking ill in Jamaica.

Person, Engineering, Science

1 memorial
Venn diagram

Venn diagram

Invented by Dr John Venn.  We think the attached picture does an excellent job of both illustrating all you need to know about how Venn diagrams work and also of succinctly answering that knotty qu...

Concept, Science

1 memorial
Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison

Politician and writer. Born Milston, Wiltshire.

Person, Politics & Administration, Science

1 memorial