“We build too many walls and not enough bridges”, as quoted my Sir Isaac Newton some say this was quoted by him others say he did not quote this. That’s not what is important what is important however is what did Isaac Newton did for the math world and what his contributions mean to us as a society. Born in England on the day of our savior Christ the year 1642 the same year that Galileo passed from this life. As an devoutly religious man and Fellow of the Royal Society (the highest honor a British scientist can hold) along with his bachelors and master’s degrees and the knighthood, Newton achieved so much personally. Newton was not interested in the past science but modern science and the ancient beliefs, he stretched his mind beyond what any average person would, if Newton did not understand or knew an answer he craved more information and sought out the truth. At twenty-one Isaac was reading a book about astrology and the elements of the galaxy which lead him to seek out the knowledge of trigonometry then which lead to geometry and then the elements and low and behold Newton’s love for mathematics took bloom. Isaac invented more than just physical items such as the reflecting telescope and lenses. Isaac’s ideas produced so much more then we could image such as his theory on gravitation, laws of motion, and calculus.
Born to an uneducated farmer and being left behind and abandon by his mother upon the death of her husband leaving him in the care of his grandmother and a lonely life as a boy, I think that Isaac Newton lead a life where he was interested in the unknowns of the universe, to wonders of optics and the matters of energy. For several years Newton’s main focus was on optics and trying to improve the effectiveness of the telescopes (which he picked up where Galileo left off) Newton wanted to improve the telescope by the discovery of reflecting the light rays verses the refraction of it. Later Newton was honored for his improvement of the telescope and wrote a paper on his discovery only to be disbelieved by many of the Royal Society and follow scientists, he tried to explain his findings but was criticized over and over Newton was almost to the point where he gave up on science, but however he collected all the conclusions of his work on the laws of motion, which ended up becoming the great Principia. The Principia, which was actually called Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was a work of three books written by Newton on physics, the additional editions later written included information on the main ideas of physics but not energy, it helped explain the laws of motion and Newton’s theory of gravity. Newton feel to depression after the release of the Principia and took a break from science, he went to work for a mint at the age fifty-four, where received many honors and titles just as in science. Around this time Newton wrote the Opticks, a book of Newton’s early research which included refraction of light, inflexions and the color of light. This particular book made Newtons’ ideas and theories more approachable then the Principia, which kind of put his name out there so to speak. Why give this information, what does this have to do with anything? It gives a background on where he came from the life he lived, to the thoughts he had, and the struggles Newton dealt with.
The most famous of all Newton’s work was the three laws of motion and the creation of calculus, as quoted by Webster dictionary “a method of computation or calculation in a special notation (as of logic or symbolic logic) and the mathematical methods comprising differential and integral calculus”. Math came out of solving and predicting outcomes in our everyday lives, as humans became more and more intrigued how the world functioned and the nature of it, past men of science where faced with limitations on their current theories of the times and Newton’s laws of motion and gravity gave birth to calculus. Newton’s discovery of gravity and the speed at which an object moved he need a more mathematical ways to express this finding and the math at hand was not able to produce this valuable discovery. Newtons questions of universal things lead him to create a new math in which he created relationship with the physical happenings around and the math of today, giving him symbols and numbers in a formula to express his works and findings that people would be able to understand. Newton’s ideas were the beginning point for modern physics which Isaac built upon from the findings of scientists before him and was able to prove ideas that where only theories from the past. So, Newton’s Three laws of motion use the mathematical calculations of calculus and create the world of math and physics in harmony that was created by Sir Isaac Newton.
In the end Newton created bridges of knowledge with motion, gravity and math and how they tie together. He tore down walls of disbelief, doubt and skepticism. But left us with an invention we use to this day such as reflecting telescopes. He created a law of universal gravitation and formulated the three laws of motion in the basic principles of modern physics. A man born premature and without a father, struggling with “bipolar (or manic depressive) disorder, an illness he suffered from most of his life”. Issac Newton sure did make an impact on the world with his works and discoveries and left behind brilliant works of mathematical art.
