Isaac Newton Biography

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In the small town of Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, on Christmas Day 1642 the year the English Civil War began (January 4, 1643 New Style) arguably; the world’s greatest mathematician was born. (Lacey, 2005) Isaac Newton was born into a wealthy farm family ("Isaac newton (1643 - 1727)," ). Since Isaac’s father had died before he was born, his mother was in need of income. When Newton was three years old, his mother gave him to his grandparents. She wanted to remarry and raise a second family. In order to start a new life she could not have any children with previous men. His mother returned to Woolsthorpe in 1653, after her second husband died. When she returned home he was still ignored by his mother. Isaac did not have a very happy childhood; because of this he did not know how to interact with others (Hatch, 1998). When his mother came home she sent him to school seven miles away. It was too far for a ten year old to ride a horse everyday, so he lived with the town pharmacist and his children. He went to school and kept to himself. Children at school would bully Newton, and one day he fought a child to protect himself. He wanted to be better than the bullies in any way possible. Isaac would focus on his studies until he was the top student, then slack and make new gadgets and models. He continued to make gadgets until someone was beating him with high grades then he would focus on schooling again (Salas & Reynolds, 2004). His schooling in town was to prepare for entrance to Trinity College, located in Cambridge (Hatch, 1998). The turning point in Newton's life was in June 1661. He left his home for Cambridge University to further his studies. Newton entered a new world, and could eventually call his own (Hatch, 1998). He could n... ... middle of paper ... ...ight get. Finally Halley convinced Newton to publish his mathematical findings. Many mathematicians agreed with his work because it was a new understanding of the universe and they wanted to know more (Salas & Reynolds, 2004). Isaac moved on from the universe and looked at the mathematical aspects in the bible. He tried to figure out the exact size of the cubit. A cubit was the measurement Noah used to build his ark. When he moved to London and began working at the mint he was the first warden to be involved from day-to-day. He used an accounting system to count the money. This was not a problem for a man of his talent. He still received math problems from mathematicians around Europe, but he kept those in secret. He died with many things kept to himself, luckily a few people made him publish it otherwise we would be lost without his work (Salas & Reynolds, 2004).

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