Did you know this about
Isaac Newton
Did you Know?
Sir Isaac Newton 1643-1727 was one of Lincolnshire’s most famous sons. An English polymath he was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, author and inventor. It was seeing a falling apple at his home in Woolsthorpe that inspired his thoughts on gravity.
2027 sees the 300th anniversary of his death.
Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day 1642. A tiny sickly baby he was thought unlikely to survive. His father, also Isaac, was a yeoman farmer who had inherited the Manor at Woolsthorpe, but had died three months before his birth.
Whilst his mother had received a rudimentary education, his father was illiterate and was unable to sign his own name. Isaac Newton attended the Grammar School in Grantham where the Headmaster Henry Stokes spotted the boy’s potential. The 15th century King’s School in Grantham is still there and there is an alleged inscription of his name carved into a windowsill of the library. From Grantham, Newton went to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1661.
Newton was a mathematical genius without rival, he developed an entirely new branch of mathematics, experimented with gravity and researched into the behaviour of light and established his chromatic theory. The years following his degree have been described as “the richest and most productive ever experienced by a scientist”. The next two years alone saw him at Woolsthorpe developing theories on calculus, optics, and the laws of gravitation.
The small 16th century Woolsthorpe Manor is owned and run by the National Trust. In the orchard is Newton’s famous apple tree and there is also a hands-on Science Centre. Walk to the nearby village church where he was baptised.
