English Physicist and Mathematician, Founder of Classical Mechanics
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, and astronomer who in 1687 published the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, systematically setting out the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, for the first time explaining in a unified mathematical language the common physical law of phenomena previously seen as utterly different, from a falling apple to the planets orbiting the sun, and providing the fundamental theoretical basis for almost all engineering and mechanical design for the nearly two centuries after — the mechanical analysis of the steam engine, the force calculation of bridge structures, the motion law of locomotive wheels, all in essence built on the framework of Newtonian mechanics. He also independently developed calculus (proposed independently at almost the same time as the German mathematician Leibniz, after which the two and their supporters erupted in a long, acrimonious dispute over priority of invention), which thereafter became the indispensable mathematical language of almost all engineering and physical calculation. Newton himself was solitary and suspicious, extremely proud and vindictive, and had long, sharp personal grudges and priority disputes with several colleagues in the Royal Society — above all Robert Hooke — using his power as Royal Society president in his later years to suppress and marginalize Hooke’s historical contributions and scholarly image to a considerable degree.
In a letter to Hooke, Newton wrote the famous line "if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants," on the surface a modest pleasantry, but later scholars broadly hold it was actually a pun with a hidden sneer — Hooke was short and had a curved spine, and Newton’s line was very likely a barbed jab at the short Hooke through the word "giant," a glimpse of the personal grudge between the two.
Newton and the German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz each independently developed calculus at almost the same time, and the two camps thereafter erupted in a fierce dispute lasting decades and reaching across the whole of European mathematics over "who was really the inventor," Newton even using his power in the Royal Society to lead a nominally "neutral" but plainly self-favoring investigation report; this long priority dispute for a time left British and continental mathematics long lacking exchange, objectively holding back British mathematics for a period.
The dispute over calculus priority between Newton and Leibniz is one of the most famous scholarly priority disputes in the history of technology, and modern history of science broadly holds the two independent discoverers, Newton thinking earlier but Leibniz’s notation and time of publication having equal independent historical value.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
That email didn’t look right? Free · unsubscribe anytime · Privacy