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

Edward Somerset, second Marquess of Worcester

Edward Somerset, second Marquess of Worcester

Courtier and scientist. Called Lord Herbert. Catholic. In the court of King Charles I.

Person, Politics & Administration, Science

1 memorial
Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei

Physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher.  Born Pisa, Italy.  His improvements to the telescope enabled him to make new important astronomical observations which supported Copernicus’s...

Person, Science, Seriously Famous, Italy

2 memorials
Charles 3rd Earl Stanhope

Charles 3rd Earl Stanhope

Politician and scientist. Born in London and educated at Eton and the University of Geneva, Switzerland. A brief browse on the web brought up Stanhope's name in association with inventions in the f...

Person, Politics & Administration, Science

1 memorial
Will Hay

Will Hay

Comedian and actor. Born William Thomson Hay at 23 Durham Street, Stockton-on-Tees. His career started in music-halls and concert-parties. He went on to work with Fred Karno, developing his schoolm...

Person, Cinema, Science, Theatre, Australia, New Zealand, USA

1 memorial
Edward Westermarck

Edward Westermarck

Philosopher and sociologist.  Born Helsinki.  Learnt English in order to read Darwin and others.  Came to England in 1897 and frequently thereafter.  Probably homosexual himself, he wrote on subjec...

Person, Science, Finland

1 memorial