Isaac Newton
December 25, 1642 – March 20, 1726
It would be easy to just say that Sir Isaac Newton invented gravity, the tides, comets and colored light. It would be wrong…but it would be easy.
Newton is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientific minds in human history and one of the principle minds behind what would become the Enlightenment. A genius, he used mathematics to explain everything from philosophy to the movement of the planets. He created the first reflecting telescope to study the movement of comets and other celestial objects. He determined, via prism, that the light spectrum contained an array of colors that were intrinsic to the white light itself. Love it or hate it, he invented Calculus.
And, as legend has it, he used observations of an apple tree in his garden to formulate his theory of gravitation.
Though the popular idea of a dozing Newton getting plonked on the head by a falling apple are apocryphal…peers and family did confirm his statements that watching the apples fall from the tree aided in his interest in the subject.
Newton was educated at The King’s School and Trinity College at Cambridge. He was eventually elected as a fellow at the university, which included mandatory ordination as an Anglican priest. Though many throughout his life considered him a “heretic,” Newton maintained a healthy, if analytic, relationship to the church. He was heavily interested in the meanings and origins of words in the Bible.
In 1705, Newton was knighted by Queen Anne, just the second scientist to receive that honor. By the time of his death at the age of 84, Newton had left a lasting impact on fields ranging from physics to economics. He was buried with high distinction beneath a prominent monument in the nave of Westminster Abbey.
Burial
Westminster Abbey – London, UK
Specific Location
Nave – Massive monument just north of the center aisle.
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