麻豆APP

Top 20 Facts about Isaac Newton

*Originally published by Lilian in March of 2020, Updated by Vanessa in July 2022 and Updated by Vanessa R in May 2023 and Updated by Diana K in March 2024

By After Godfrey Kneller – Wikimedia

Sir Isaac Newton was an English philosopher, an excellent mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and theologian. He was referred to as a natural philosopher. He was a key figure in revolutionizing science as we know it now. He discovered gravity, the three laws of motion and calculus.

Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, England on January 4, 1643. He was named after his father who died three months before Isaac was born,  Isaac senior was a farmer.

His mother, Hannah Ayscough Newton, remarried on Isaac鈥檚 third birthday, she left him with his grandparents. He had three step-siblings.

Let’s look at 20 facts about Sir Isaac Newton.

1. Isaac Newton discovered gravity 

Photo by Aryan Singh on Unsplash

In 1665, Isaac graduated from University. Soon after there was an outbreak of an epidemic called the Great Plague of London. This plague also known as bubonic plague was caused by rats.

Due to the plague, the university that Isaac taught at had to be temporarily closed to contain it. He packed his bags and went back to  Woolsthorpe. Whilst away from university, he took that moment to advance his explorations of calculus, optics, and gravitation he had begun at Cambridge.

It is during this two-year break that Isaac’s most influential discoveries are said to have taken place.

He was in his mother’s garden when he observed how an apple fell from a tree. This was the moment he got inspired to formulate his theory of universal gravitation. Isaac Newton observed that the same force that pulled the apple applied to the moon. This formed the basis of one of his most fundamental discoveries.

2. Isaac Newton was a preterm Miracle baby

Photo by Hush Naidoo on Unsplash

On a cold morning on 4 January 1643,  Isaac Newton was born albeit prematurely and was not expected to survive since he was so tiny.

He grew up under his grandparents after his mother remarried. He later attended Free Grammar school in Grantham.

Isaac hoped to study law at Trinity College Cambridge where he attended. Interestingly, he did not do well in school, so his mother opted to pull him out of school.

Determined, he waited table and paid his way through to college.

3. Isaac Newton despised his step-father

Isaac Newton grew up lonely and separated from his mother.

He felt neglected and loathed his mother and step-father for abandoning him. In one of his journals, he wrote how he hoped to punish them, 鈥渢hreatening my father and mother to burn them and the house over them鈥�.

A loner and an only child, Isaac buried himself in books for comfort. He was not fond of literature and poetry but loved mechanics and technology. He would create a detailed and complicated system of sundials, a time-telling machine, which was accurate to the minute. His uncle, William Ayscough and his school headmaster, Stokes, saw his intellectual potential.

4. Isaac Newton鈥檚 Mother wanted him to be a  Farmer

At the age of 16, Isaac Newton was ordered to quit school by his mother. She had lost her second husband and was back at her parents, Isaac was then a boarding student due to distance.

She wanted him to go back to Woolsthorpe Manor to become a farmer, just like his father was. Through much convincing from his headmaster in Grantham, she let him return to school. Isaac later joined Trinity College, the University of Cambridge in 1661, and that’s how he dodged the farming bullet.

5. Isaac Newton Kept a Journal of his Sins

Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash

Being introverted and secretive, and a lonely person, Isaac Newton recorded his daily transgressions.  This helped him let out his frustrations. He had a notebook with 鈥�57 sins鈥� he had committed. It revealed his other side as a moody teenager, and his fears which most found relatable.

Some of his entries were that he picked on his younger sister. He also questioned his allegiance to God. Other than venting out in his journal, Isaac Newton recorded highlights of his day such as when he made pie on a Sunday night and when he ate an apple in church.

6. Isaac Newton did not take criticism well

Isaac Newton was quick-tempered and had emotional breakdowns. This could be attributed to his lonely upbringing. He would keep his brilliant discoveries to himself and refuse to collaborate with fellow scientists due to a misunderstanding or criticism of his work.

Isaac surprised his colleague, Edmund Halley an astronomer, with a solution to a problem he worked on four years earlier but never shared with anyone.

7. Sir Isaac Newton: Knighted by the Queen Anne

Photo by Natasa Grabovac on Unsplash

Queen Anne of England visited Trinity College, Cambridge on 17 April 1705. It was then that the Queen Knighted Isaac Newton.

It is claimed that the knighthood had nothing to do with scientific accomplishments but it was rather political.

8. Isaac Newton Believed that Seeing is believing

The plague period that befell Great Britain in the 1600s, proved to be Sir Isaac鈥檚 most productive moment.

While on a hiatus, Sir Isaac sought to study his discoveries in detail. He believed that true knowledge came from observing rather than reading a book. A serious example is when he stuck a blunt needle in his eyes (between his eyeball and his eye socket) to see the effect it would have on his vision rather than getting the textbook version.

He recorded this experience in his journal saying, 鈥渁s nearer to the backside of my eye as I could, I saw spots.  Those spots were clearest when I continued to rub my eye with the needle鈥�. Please do not try this at home.

9. Sir Isaac Newton had a Rival

Sir Isaac Newton did not like competition. He always wanted the best for himself and always kept his brilliant discoveries to himself.

In 1699, a well-known German Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz published his work on a calculus theory he had discovered.  It was one of the most complicated mathematics problems.

After learning about the publication, Sir Isaac claimed that the prominent philosopher had plagiarized his work. He claimed that he had solved the problem through the same theory more than 20 years earlier.  Leibniz died before the two could settle the feud.

10. Sir Isaac Newton the Stingy Bachelor

Sir Isaac Newton did not get married. It is also believed that he never dated but dedicated his life to science. He accumulated wealth from his scientific inventions and his work at the university and while working in parliament.

Despite this success, Sir Isaac was never quick to share with his family and acquaintances.

11. He wrote more on alchemy and religion than on science

But he didn’t show that aspect of himself! His ten million-word papers weren’t made public until the 1960s. It’s interesting to note that during his lifetime, Newton rarely spoke about his religious beliefs; instead, he only wrote about them.

In order to protect Newton’s reputation and prevent him from being labelled a heretic, his successors likewise kept those writings a secret. Sir Isaac Newton died in his sleep in London on the 20th of March,1727. Postmortem results indicated that he may have died from mercury poisoning.

12. He was born on Christmas Day even though he was born on January 4th

Godfrey Kneller by James Thronill from

Yes, it is perplexing. The Gregorian calendar hadn’t been adopted by England when he was born (it took them until 1752, and Newton was born in 1643). According to the records, Isaac was christened on January 1st and was born on Christmas.

The Gregorian calendar had to be modified by 11 days for England to officially embrace it, making January 4 Isaac’s official birthdate.

13. His dog started the fire that destroyed 20 years of research at his laboratory

At least, that is how Newton retold the events. Some historians contend that Newton never even had a dog and instead claim that he accidentally knocked over a burning candle when he left a window open. 

But the dog tale endures, having been mentioned in The Life of Sir Isaac Newton as early as 1833. Newton is reported to have said, “O Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the evil thou hast done,” when he witnessed what man’s closest friend had done.

14. To irritate his playground bully, Isaac Newton earned outstanding marks

Rochester King’s Prep School by ClemRutter from

He was harassed by another student while he was a student at King’s School in Grantham. The bully once kicked Newton in the stomach, but Newton issued a combat challenge outside of class. In the end, young Isaac Newton emerged victorious.

Newton made the decision to defeat his bully mentally after this occurrence, therefore he worked hard to become the best student in the school. To set himself apart, he even constructed sundials and windmill models.

15. During the Great Plague, he completed a lot of his work while living at home

Calculus homework by daniel from

August 1665 saw Isaac Newton receive his BA. The University of Cambridge abruptly shut down as a preventative measure against the Great Plague of London shortly after. Isaac Newton stayed at home at this time and devoted himself to his own research. His private research, however inconspicuous as a student, would ultimately lay the groundwork for infinitesimal calculus, optics, and the law of universal gravitation.

A trace of this substance was found on his hair probably from his chemical experiments.  Sir Isaac Newton was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey, London, United Kingdom. He was 84 years old when he died.

16. He鈥檚 said to have lectured in an empty room

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Newton had a reputation for being alone and occasionally unpleasant, especially as a student and professor at Cambridge. He didn’t communicate much, had few close friends, and occasionally forgot to eat since he was so preoccupied with work. When no one showed up for his lesson on one occasion, he is said to have lectured to an empty class. 

17. He almost didn’t publish most of his work

Newton was reluctant to share many of his findings because he avoided the attention. When astronomer Edmond Halley persuaded him to publish, his most thorough job motion and gravity鈥攔emained unpublished in his study for more than 20 years.

Finally published in 1687 under the hefty title Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was the work that resulted from those efforts (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). The book reinforced Newton’s status as the greatest scientist of his day, even though only a small group of readers could completely understand the book’s complex mathematics and pictures.

18. Newton had his portrait painted more than a dozen times

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Newton had his portrait drawn more than a dozen times despite his reclusiveness, particularly in the last quarter of his life. Only monarchs and possibly a few noblemen, according to historian Moshe Feingold, “surpassed Newton in the number of times they commissioned portraits of themselves.” it’s fair to say that he loved selfies.

19. He was also interested in alchemy 

We remember Newton for his contributions to physics, astronomy, and mathematics, but his private letters and notebooks reveal that he was equally interested in alchemy鈥攖he practice of attempting to turn base metals into rare metals biblical chronology鈥攊ncluding various attempts to determine the timing of the Apocalypse.

Newton’s most certain prediction for the end of the world, according to science historian Stephen Snobelen, was the year 2060. This theory sparked the controversial 2003 BBC TV documentary Newton: The Dark Heretic.

20. He once stuck a needle in his eye for the sake of science

Although not literally, Newton recalls inserting a bodkin鈥攁 long, thin sewing needle鈥攂etween his eye and the nearby bone as part of his research on vision and colour perception. He put pressure on it while inserting it “as near to the backside of my eye as I could.” As a result? There were “a number of white, black, and coloured circles.” That is commitment, right there. 

Isaac Newton’s Ingenious Inventions

Isaac Newton was primarily known for his groundbreaking contributions to physics and mathematics rather than inventions in the traditional sense. However, he did create several ingenious devices and made advancements in various fields. Here are some notable aspects of Newton’s work that could be considered as inventions or innovations.

1. Newton’s Reflecting Telescope

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Newtonian telescope, also known as the Newtonian telescope, was a groundbreaking invention that revolutionised the field of astronomy. Prior to this invention, refracting telescopes were commonly used, which relied on lenses to bend and focus light. However, these telescopes suffered from chromatic aberration, where different wavelengths of light were bent at slightly different angles, causing blurry and distorted images.

Newton‘s ingenious design utilised a curved primary mirror to reflect and concentrate light, and a small diagonal flat mirror to reflect the image into the eyepiece. This innovative approach eliminated chromatic aberration, resulting in significantly clearer and more detailed astronomical observations. Newton’s reflecting telescope paved the way for larger and more powerful telescopes, enabling astronomers to explore deeper into the cosmos and make remarkable discoveries about the universe.

2. Newton’s Rings

, , via Wikimedia Commons

In his quest to understand the nature of light, Newton conducted experiments on thin films of air between two glass surfaces. He observed that when light was reflected between these surfaces, intricate patterns of concentric circles with alternating bright and dark rings appeared. These patterns, now known as Newton’s rings, were a result of the interference of light waves reflecting off the two surfaces.

Newton’s observations and analysis of this phenomenon contributed significantly to the understanding of the wave-like behaviour of light and the principles of interference. The study of Newton’s rings not only advanced optics but also laid the foundation for the development of modern interferometry techniques, which have numerous applications in fields such as astronomy, metrology, and materials science.

3. Newtonian Fluid

Although the term “Newtonian fluid” was not coined by Isaac Newton himself, his pioneering work in the field of fluid mechanics laid the groundwork for this concept. In his influential work, the Principia Mathematica, Newton described the behavior of fluids and their resistance to flow, which is now known as viscosity. A Newtonian fluid is one in which the viscosity remains constant regardless of the applied shear stress or rate of deformation.

Examples of Newtonian fluids include water, air, and many common liquids and gases under normal conditions. Newton’s laws of motion and his insights into the nature of viscosity provided a fundamental understanding of how these fluids behave, forming the basis for modern fluid dynamics and engineering calculations involving fluid flow. The concept of Newtonian fluids remains crucial in various fields, including hydraulics, aerodynamics, and chemical engineering.

4. Calculating Machine

In addition to his groundbreaking contributions to physics and mathematics, Newton also demonstrated an early interest in the field of mechanical computing. Although he did not succeed in constructing a fully functional machine, his designs for a mechanical calculator were truly ingenious for his time. Newton envisioned a device capable of performing arithmetic operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, through a system of gears and levers.

His proposed mechanism involved using inscribed rings to represent numerical values and intricate gear arrangements to manipulate these values according to the desired operations. While his calculating machine remained an unrealized concept, Newton’s designs and ideas laid the groundwork for future developments in mechanical computing devices. His vision and efforts were a precursor to the eventual invention of practical calculators and early computing machines.

5. Newton’s Cannon

, , via Wikimedia Commons

To illustrate his groundbreaking theories of motion and gravitation, Newton conceived a brilliant thought experiment, now known as “Newton’s Cannon.” He imagined a cannon placed atop an incredibly high mountain, firing a cannonball horizontally with increasing velocities. At low velocities, the cannonball would simply follow a curved trajectory and fall back to Earth due to gravity. However, as the velocity increased, the curvature of the cannonball’s path would become less pronounced, ultimately leading to a scenario where the cannonball would continuously fall around the Earth in a perpetual orbit.

This thought experiment helped Newton explain the concept of orbital motion, where an object’s forward velocity and the Earth’s gravitational pull combine to create a continuous state of free fall, resulting in an elliptical orbit. Newton’s Cannon elegantly demonstrated that the same principles governing the motion of objects on Earth also apply to celestial bodies, unifying terrestrial and celestial mechanics under the same laws of motion and gravitation.

6. Law of Universal Gravitation

While not a physical invention, Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation stands as one of the most profound and influential theoretical discoveries in the history of science. Through his meticulous observations and mathematical reasoning, Newton formulated a universal law that explained the force of attraction between any two masses in the universe.

This law states that every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Newton’s law of gravitation not only explained the motion of celestial bodies, but it also provided a unified framework for understanding a wide range of phenomena, from the tides to the orbits of comets and planets. This law laid the foundation for the development of classical mechanics and celestial mechanics, enabling accurate predictions of planetary motions and paving the way for future astronomical discoveries and space exploration.

7. Calculus

Image by from

Newton’s development of calculus is considered one of the greatest intellectual achievements in the history of mathematics. Independently and concurrently with Gottfried Leibniz, Newton laid the foundations of calculus, a branch of mathematics focused on the study of rates of change and accumulation. Calculus revolutionized the way mathematicians, scientists, and engineers approached problems involving motion, growth, and optimization.

Newton’s formulation of calculus involved the concepts of fluxions (derivatives) and fluents (integrals), which allowed for the precise calculation of instantaneous rates of change and the determination of areas under curves. His work in calculus enabled the quantification and analysis of continuously varying quantities, opening up new frontiers in physics, astronomy, engineering, and various other fields. The impact of calculus has been profound, providing a powerful toolset for modeling and understanding the dynamically changing world around us.

8. Newton’s Laws of Motion

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion are fundamental principles that govern the motion of objects and the forces acting upon them. These laws form the bedrock of classical mechanics and have shaped our understanding of the physical world. The first law states that an object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an external force. The second law describes the relationship between an object’s mass, acceleration, and the net force acting upon it, famously expressed as F=ma.

The third law asserts that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Together, these laws provide a comprehensive framework for analyzing and predicting the motion of objects under the influence of forces. Newton’s laws of motion have been instrumental in numerous scientific and technological advancements, from the design of modern transportation systems to the exploration of space.

9. Newton’s Method

, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

In the realm of mathematics, Newton’s method, also known as the Newton-Raphson method, is an iterative numerical technique for finding increasingly accurate approximations of the roots of a real-valued function. This method involves starting with an initial guess for the root and iteratively refining the approximation based on the function’s behavior at that point. Each iteration generates a new approximation that is closer to the true root, provided the initial guess is sufficiently close.

Newton’s method is widely used in various applications, including solving non-linear equations, optimization problems, and finding roots of polynomials. Its efficiency and convergence rate make it a powerful tool in computational mathematics, enabling the solution of complex problems that cannot be easily solved by analytical methods alone.

10. Newtonian Cooling

In his study of heat transfer, Newton investigated the process of cooling and formulated what is known as Newton’s law of cooling. This law describes the rate at which an object’s temperature changes when exposed to a surrounding medium with a different temperature. According to Newton’s law, the rate of heat loss or gain is proportional to the temperature difference between the object and its surroundings.

This relationship is expressed mathematically as the rate of cooling being equal to a constant (known as the cooling constant) multiplied by the temperature difference. Newton’s law of cooling has practical applications in various fields, such as engineering, meteorology, and environmental science. It is used to model and predict the cooling rates of objects in various situations, from the design of heat exchangers and refrigeration systems to the analysis of atmospheric temperature changes and climate models.

While Newton is not typically associated with tangible inventions like those of some of his contemporaries, his contributions to science and mathematics have had a lasting impact on various fields.