Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton (1643–1727) was an English scientist, mathematician, and inventor. He is most famous for discovering the laws of motion and gravity, which explain how objects move in the universe. Newton’s ideas changed the way people understood nature and became the foundation of modern physics.

Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, England. As a child, he was curious about how things worked and often built small machines, such as windmills and clocks. He studied at the University of Cambridge, where he learned about mathematics and astronomy. During a time when the university was closed because of the plague, Newton returned home and made some of his greatest discoveries.

One famous story says that Newton began thinking about gravity when he saw an apple fall from a tree. He wondered why the apple fell straight down instead of sideways or upward. This led him to realize that the same force pulling the apple to the ground also keeps the Moon in orbit around earth. He called this force gravity. gravity, he said, works everywhere in the universe, attracting all objects toward one another.

Newton also studied motion and described it in his Three Laws of motion. The first law says that an object stays still or keeps moving unless something pushes or pulls it. The second law explains how force changes the motion of an object — for example, pushing harder makes something move faster. The third law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. These simple ideas help explain almost all movement, from rolling a ball to launching a rocket.

Besides studying motion and gravity, Newton made great progress in mathematics. He helped create a new kind of math called calculus, which scientists use to study change. He also studied light and color, showing that white light is made of all the colors of the rainbow. Newton built the first reflecting telescope, which used mirrors instead of lenses to make clearer images of stars and planets.

Newton’s most famous book, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (often called the Principia), was published in 1687. In it, he explained his laws of motion and gravity. His work guided scientists for more than 200 years, until new discoveries like Einstein’s theory of relativity expanded our understanding of space and time.

Isaac Newton’s curiosity and careful experiments helped shape modern science. He showed that nature follows simple and discoverable laws. Even today, his ideas are used in engineering, space travel, and everyday technology.