Isaac Newton: The Most Influential Person

Throughout history, society has been impacted by influential people across the world. Michael Hart has fabricated a list containing his idea of the most influential people. Hart rated Isaac Newton to be number two of The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. He said, “Newton was not only the most brilliant of all scientists; he was also the most influential figure in the development of scientific theory, and therefore well merits a position at or near the top of any list of the world’s most influential persons” (Hart 16). It is reasonable for Isaac Newton to be ranked as the second most influential person because he was impacted by the works of Galileo, discovered the nature of light, and discovered the laws of motion and

gravitation.
Toward the middle of the seventeenth century, the invention of the telescope and Galileo Galilei’s astronomical observations revolutionized the entire study of astronomy. His experiments had led to what is now known as Newton’s laws of motion. Galileo had, in fact, discovered the first law of motion. It described the motion of objects if they are not acted upon by any exterior forces, but the real question was what the motion of objects is once they are acted upon by exterior forces. Before Galileo could perfect his theory, he died the same year Newton was born. On December 25, 1642, a premature baby was born in Woolsthorpe England. Born after the death of his father, Isaac Newton was weak and not expected to survive (Hart 11-13). Newton eventually grew to depart from his practically illiterate family to become one of the foremost intellects of science (Christianson 1). Later in life, Newton was influenced by Galileo’s first law of motion. Noticing the flaws, he corrected Galileo’s law by creating the second law of motion. Newton led the way to the future of astronomy. The first of his works to be published was his discovery of the nature of light.
Isaac Newton’s accomplishments and contributions to science are considered revolutionary.

In 1761, Newton created the reflecting telescope. He took Galileo’s refracting telescope and added an additional mirror at an angle inside the tube. The second mirror caught the reflected light and redirected it to the focusing lens. Because of his successful discovery, Newton was nominated to be a part of the Royal Society (Boerst 56). He proudly claimed that the analysis of dispersion and the composition of white light was, “the oddest if not the most considerable detection yet made in the operations of nature” (Encyclopedia). As a result of constructing the telescope, Newton had announced to Oldenburg that he had developed a new understanding of Optics. Optics is a type of physics that involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it (Boerst 57). Newton’s understand of Optics, guided him to his famous discovery of the three laws of motion and

gravitation.
In 1686, Isaac Newton had discovered the laws of motion. It is said that he conceived the theory after seeing an apple fall in his orchard. Newton then realized that the same force that caused the apple to fall is the same force that holds the moon in orbit. Newton published his discoveries in his three-part novel, Principia.
Book I of the Principia states the science of mechanics. That which includes the mathematics of orbital motion around centers of force. Newton said that gravitation is the foundation force controlling the motions of objects, although he never found the cause of gravity. Newton proceeded to claim that gravity is a force with unseen particles (Hall).
Book II introduced his theory of fluids. A Newtonian fluid is, “A fluid whose stress at each point is linearly proportional to its strain rate at that point” (Encyclopedia). The concept is corresponding to Hooke's law for a solid. Newton concluded that all gases are Newtonian, as are most common liquids such as water, hydrocarbons, and oils (Encyclopedia).
Book III shows how the law of gravitation works. Newton demonstrated it from the revolutions of the planets in the Milky Way galaxy. However, he could not perfect the theory of the Moon’s motion. Alfred Rupert Hall, a write for Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, describes the process as:
Comets were shown to obey the same law; in later editions, Newton added conjectures on the possibility of their return. He calculated the relative masses of heavenly bodies from their gravitational forces, and the oblateness of Earth and Jupiter, already observed. He explained tidal ebb and flow and the precession of the equinoxes from the forces exerted by the Sun and Moon. All this was done by exact computation (Hall).
Newton's work was automatically accepted in Britain, and then everywhere else after about fifty years later. Since then, Principia has been “ranked among humanity's greatest achievements in abstract thought” (Hall). Overtime, it was changed by other scientists and mathematicians. Pierre Simon de Laplace, without changing its basis, was greatly influenced by Newton and extended Newton’s works. Principia survived into the late 19th century before it was perfected through the Quantum Theory and the Theory of Relativity. This novel continues to influence scientists today. Isaac Newton’s theories and discoveries helped contribute to modern day science (Hall).
Although some may disagree with Hart’s choice to rank Isaac Newton as the second most influential person of all time on The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, I agree.

It is reasonable because he was impacted by the works of Galileo, causing him make greater discovers. That includes his discovery of the nature of light through creating the first working reflecting telescope. Newton was also a person of great importance because he discovered the laws of motion and gravitation. I named Isaac Newton the “surpassing man” because he always exceeded expectations. Newton was thought to die at birth, but he lived. Newton was not expected to be the most important scientist of all time, but he was. Later in Newton’s life, when he was asked for an assessment of his achievements, he replied, "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me"

(Bio).