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Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) achieved momentous breakthroughs
in three areas: Mathematics (the calculus), a theory of colors,
and gravitational attraction. His first insights in each of
these areas occurred during the ""wonder years" of 1665-66,
when retreat from the plague isolated Newton at Woolsthorpe.
Newton's
theory of "fluxions", along with independent work by
Leibniz, created the methods of modern calculus.
Building on the analytic geometry of
Rene Descartes, these
techniques allow us to reason about the infinitely small and
infinitely large in a mathematically rigorous way.
Newton also revised Descartes' theory of light to show that white light
is composed of different rays, each associated with a specific
angle of refraction and a specific color. Newton also invented
the reflection telescope, and considered his work on light and
colors to be his first great success.
The
famous theory of gravitation was built on the foundation of
Galileo's
laws of terrestrial motion and Kepler's
laws of celestial motion. Newton described the inverse-square
law of gravitation (F=1/r2); his famous Principia of
1686 included three famous laws:
-
Bodies continue in motion or at rest unless changed by a force.
- Force
equals mass times acceleration (F=ma).
- Every
action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton
also provided the universal law of gravitation (F=Gm1
m2/r2) and showed that the gravitational force (the factor G
in this equation) is constant for all bodies.
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