Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton (1642 to 1727) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and author, who was highly influential in the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and president of the Royal Society.

Discoveries:


 * His discovery of the composition of white light laid the foundation for modern physical optics. Showed how light can be analyzed into its components by reflection as well as refraction.
 * His three laws of motion resulted in the formulation of the law of universal gravitation which states that every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centres.
 * In mathematics, he was the original discoverer of calculus, published in Principia Mathematica. Leibniz later arrived at calculus independently, although this was challenged and disputed by Newton.
 * Invented and made the first reflecting telescope which used a mirror to collect starlight.