Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/5791-.end/dmg-6310/issue_2.pak/newton.pk1/newton.pk1

Text File | 1998-03-23 | 8KB | 140 lines

        Isaac  Newton  was  one  of  the  greatest scientists of all time. He is
best-known for his discovery of the law of universal gravitation and the laws of
motion. Much of modern science is based on the  understanding  and  use  of  his
laws.

        Isaac  Newton was born on Christmas Day, 1642, in the small English town
of Woolsthorpe. His father, a farmer, died shortly before Isaac was  born.  When
the  boy  was  three  years old, his mother remarried and moved to another town.
Isaac stayed on at the farm in Woolsthorpe with his grandmother. After attending
small country school, he was sent at the age of twelve to the  Kings  School  in
the near by town of Grantham.

        At  first  Isaac  was  a  poor student. He cared little for school work,
perferring to paint, make kites, write in notebooks, or invent toys. He made  no
friends.  Silent  and dreamy, he was at the bottom of his class. Oddly, it was a
savage kick by a school bully that caused Newton's great  mind  to  awaken.  The
mild,  dreamy  boy  flew  into  a  rage and beat the other boy thoroughly. Isaac
determined to beat the bully in school work as well. Soon Isaac was at the  head
of his class.

        In  1656 Newton's stepfather died. His mother returned to Woolsthorpe to
take care of the farm left by Newton's father. But she could not manage the farm
by herself. Isaac was taken  out  of  school  and  brought  home  to  help  her.

        As  a  farmer,  Newton  proved  to be a dismal failure. He neglected the
necessary chores and thought only of books to study  and  mechanical  things  to
make.  There are many stories about him at that time that show how absent minded
he was becoming. One day while he was leading a horse, the  animal  slipped  its
bridle and ran away. Isaac continued walking home with the empty bridle, unaware
that the horse was gone.

        When  an  idea  got  into Newton's head, he could think of nothing else.
Once, during a storm, his mother sent him to shut the barn doors  to  keep  them
from being torn off. Half an hour later she went to see what was keep the boy so
long. He had forgotten all about the barn doors. They were riped off the hinges,
and  Newton  was jumping again and again from an open window to the ground. Each
time, he marked the spot where he landed. Newton was trying to measure the force
of the wind. when the gusts were strong, hes jumps were  longer  than  when  the
wind  was  weaker.Realizing  that  her  son  was simply not suited to farm life,
Newton's  mother  sent  him  back  to  Kings  School.  He  graduated  in   1661.

        When  he  was  18 years old, Newton went to Trinity College in Cambridge
University. He quickly proved to his teachers that he was no  ordinary  student.
He read all the books he could get, especially those on mathematics and physics.
These  interested  him  the most. His professors were amazed to find that Newton
knew about certain subjects even  before  he  was  taught.  the  young  man  has
mastered the subjects by himself.

        In  1665,  when  Newton  was  only  25  years old, he worked out a basic
formula in Mathematics that has been used ever since. Today  it  is  called  the
Binomial Theroem.

        That same year, 1665, Isaac graduated from Trinity College. He wanted to
stay  on  at  the  university to continue his studies. But the plague, the Black
Death, had broken out in England. The university was  closed  and  the  students
sent  home,  for  the  fear  that the plague would strike Cambridge. Newton then
returned to Woolsthorpe.

        Fear of the plague keep Newton close to the farm for the next 18 months.
Almost always alone, He spent his time thinking out  mathematical  problems.  in
those  18  months he laid the foundation for his lifes work. During that time he
hit upon a new mathematical tool he called fluxions or flowing quantities. Today
it is called calculus.

        One day in 1665  Newtin  was  sitting  in  the  garden  in  Woolsthorpe,
thinking about force that kept the moon moving around the earth, he saw an apple
fall from a tree. This set him thinking about falling objects. Why did they fall
down  and  not  up?  It  must  be because the earth is attracting all objects to
itself. The same force that made the apple fall downward must also be attracting
the moon and helping to keep it in orbit.

        From these  thoughts  Newton  began  to  work  out  the  law  concerning
attraction  between  all  objects  in the universe. The law is called the law of
Universal gravitation.

         While  at  Woolsthorpe,  Newton  began  experimenting  with  light.  he
succeeded  in showing that a beam of sunlight is made up of bands of colors from
red  to  violet,  as  in a  rainbow.  he  called  these  bands   the   spectrum.

        After  the  plague  ended,  Newton  returned  to Cambridge and continued
working on light and color. This work led him to the discovery of the reflecting
telescope. Most modern telescopes, such as that on Mount Palomar in  California,
are  based  on Newton's telescope. In recognition of his work in mathematics and
optics (the science of light) Newton was appointed professor of  Mathematics  at
Trinity  College  in  1669.  Early  in 1672 he was elected a member of the Royal
Society.

        Although Newton experimented mostly with optics during  these  years  at
Trinity  College,  his mind always return to the question of gravitation. He was
trying to calculate the exact amount of force that objects exert on each  other.
Rather  then  spending time with people, he spent his time working. He made very
few friends and became more absentminded then ever.

        Finally he completed the mathematics of the law  of  gravitation.  using
this  law,  Newton  in  1682  proved mathematically one of the laws of Planetary
Motion. This law was stated by the german  astronomer  Johannes  Kepler  in  the
early 1600's but he was not able to show mathematical proof.

        Because he was a shy man who cared little for fame, Newton put these and
other  calculations  away in a drawer instead of making them public. But his few
friends knew of the brilliant work he was doing. Atlast they persauded Newton to
right a  book  in  which  he  would  explain  his  work  on  Planetary   Motion,
Gravitation, and other matters.

        In  1685  newton  plunged  into  his  gigantic  taks.  He  drove himself
mercilessly, scarcely eating and  sleeping.  As  he  walked  into  his  garden a
thought  might  suddenly occur to him. He would rush upstairs to his room to jot
it down, not even sitting down to write.

        Newton's book The Mathematical Principals of Natural Philosophy appeared
in 1687. It was written in latin, the language which most scientific books  were
written in those times. Newton's book is usually called the Principia, after its
Latin  title.  Many scientists think its the most important scientific book ever
written. It contains Newton's famous three laws of motion. It also contained his
law of universal gravitation. This law applies not only to heavenly  bodies.  It
also  explains  why  a  baseball  drops  from  your hand to the ground and why a
particle of dust settles on a bookshelf.

        During later years Newton served his country in Parliament, as  well  as
in  other  ways.  In  1703 he was elected president of the Royal Society, and in
1705 he was knighted by Queen Anne. Isaac Newton died in 1727. He was burried in
Westminster Abbey, among the great men of England. His statue  stands  today  in
the hall of Trinity College, Cambridge University.


bibliography:

David  C.  knight.  "isaac  Newtons,  Mastermind of modern Science" Groiler inc.
Canada, 1969.