Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Isaac Newton is one of the greatest men in the history of science. He was born in a small village called Woolsthorpe in England. His father was a poor farmer. When Newton was fourteen, his father died. Newton left school and helped his mother on the farm. But he did not like farming. He liked poetry and mathematics. So Newton was sent back to school, where he studied well and made his first scientific experiments. After school, Newton studied at Cambridge University.

In the autumn of 1660, Cambridge University was closed because of the Great Plague in England. Newton returned to his village and stayed there for eighteen months. At home he continued his studies. When he was twenty-one, Newton formulated the binomial theorem.

After graduating, Newton lectured on mathematics at Cambridge University. His greatest discovery is the law of gravitation.

In 1703, Newton was elected President of the Royal Society. On February 28, 1727, he attended his last meeting of the Royal Society. On March 20, 1727, he died and was buried in Westminster Abbey. There is a monument to Newton in Trinity College at Cambridge with the inscription:

Newton, Who Surpassed All Men of Science.