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{{About|the scientist|the agriculturalist|Isaac Newton (agriculturalist)}}
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{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
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{{Infobox scientist
| name = Sir Isaac Newton
| image = GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg
| alt = Portrait of man in black with shoulder-length, wavy brown hair, a large sharp nose, and a distracted gaze
| caption = Portrait of Newton at 46 in 1689 by [[Godfrey Kneller]]
| birth_date = 25 December 1642<br>{{small|<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Old Style and New Style dates|NS]]: {{Birth date|df=yes|1643|01|04}}<nowiki>]</nowiki>}}{{lower|0.1em|<ref name="OSNS"/>}}
| birth_place = {{nowrap|[[Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth|Woolsthorpe]],}} [[Lincolnshire]], [[Kingdom of England|England]]
| death_date = {{nowrap|20 March [[Old Style and New Style dates|1726/7]]<!-- This is the generally accepted manner of recording Newton's death date. Please do not change without discussion. --> (aged 84)}}<br>{{small|<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Old Style and New Style dates|OS]]: {{death date|df=yes|1726|03|20}}<br>&nbsp;[[Old Style and New Style dates|NS]]: {{death date|df=yes|1727|03|31}}<nowiki>]</nowiki><!--end small:-->}}{{lower|0.1em|<ref name="OSNS"/>}}
| death_place = [[Kensington]], [[Middlesex]], England
| resting_place = [[Westminster Abbey]]
| nationality = English
| fields =
 {{unbulleted list
  | {{hlist |[[Physics]] |[[Natural philosophy]]}}
  | {{hlist |[[Alchemy]]|Theology}}
  | {{hlist |[[Mathematics]] |[[Astronomy]]}}
  | {{hlist |Economics}}
 }}
| workplaces = {{unbulleted list |[[University of Cambridge]] |[[Royal Society]] |[[Royal Mint]]}}
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| academic_advisors =
 {{unbulleted list
  | [[Isaac Barrow]]<ref>Feingold, Mordechai. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1541 Barrow, Isaac (1630–1677)], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', [[Oxford University Press]], September 2004; online edn, May 2007; retrieved 24 February 2009; explained further in Mordechai Feingold's "[http://www.jstor.org/stable/236236 Newton, Leibniz, and Barrow Too: An Attempt at a Reinterpretation]" in ''Isis'', Vol. 84, No. 2 (June 1993), pp. 310–38.</ref>
  | [[Benjamin Pulleyn]]<ref>[http://www.chlt.org/sandbox/lhl/dsb/page.50.a.php Newton profile],  ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'', n.4.</ref><ref name="The Newton Handbook">{{harvnb|Gjertsen|1986|page={{page needed|date=August 2014}}}}</ref>}}
| notable_students = {{unbulleted list |[[Roger Cotes]] |[[William Whiston]]}}
| awards = [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1672)<ref name=frs>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316060617/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows|archivedate=16 March 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows|publisher=Royal Society|location=London|title=Fellows of the Royal Society}}</ref> <br> [[Knight Bachelor]] (1705)
| known_for =
 {{unbulleted list
  |[[Newtonian mechanics]] |[[Universal gravitation]] |[[Calculus]]| [[Newton's laws of motion]]
  |{{hlist |[[Optics]] |[[Binomial series]]}}
  |{{hlist |''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]'' |[[Newton's method]]}}
 }}
| signature = Isaac Newton signature ws.svg
| signature_alt = Is. Newton
}}

{{Isaac Newton sidebar}}
{{Cosmology|scientists}}

'''Sir Isaac Newton''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|PRS}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|nj|uː|t|ən}};<ref>[http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/newton "Newton"] entry in ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]'', HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.</ref> 25 December 1642 – 20 March [[Old Style and New Style dates|1726/27]]<!-- This is the generally accepted manner of recording Newton's death date. Please do not change without discussion. --><ref name="OSNS"/>) was an English [[Mathematics|mathematician]], [[Astronomy|astronomer]], and [[Physics|physicist]] (described in his own day as a "[[natural philosophy|natural philosopher]]") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the [[scientific revolution]].  His book ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'' ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in 1687, laid the foundations of [[classical mechanics]].  Newton also made seminal contributions to [[optics]], and he shares credit with [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] for developing the infinitesimal [[calculus]].

Newton's ''Principia'' formulated the [[Newton's laws of motion|laws of motion]] and [[Newton's law of universal gravitation|universal gravitation]] that dominated scientists' view of the physical universe for the next three centuries.  By deriving [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion]] from his mathematical description of [[gravity]], and using the same principles to account for the [[Trajectory|trajectories]] of [[comet]]s, the [[tide]]s, the [[Axial precession|precession of the equinoxes]], and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of the [[heliocentrism|heliocentric]] model of the [[Solar System]] and demonstrated that the [[Dynamics (mechanics)|motion of objects]] on [[Earth]] and of [[celestial mechanics|celestial]] bodies could be accounted for by the same principles.  Newton's theoretical prediction that the Earth is shaped as an [[oblate spheroid]] was later vindicated by the geodetic measurements of [[Pierre Louis Maupertuis|Maupertuis]], [[Charles Marie de La Condamine|La Condamine]], and others, thus convincing most [[Continental Europe]]an scientists of the superiority of [[Classical mechanics|Newtonian mechanics]] over the earlier system of [[René Descartes|Descartes]].

Newton also built the first practical [[reflecting telescope]] and developed a sophisticated [[Theory of Colours|theory of colour]] based on the observation that a [[Dispersive prism|prism]] decomposes [[Electromagnetic_spectrum#Visible_radiation_.28light.29|white light]] into the colours of the [[visible spectrum]].  Newton's work on light was collected in his highly influential book ''[[Opticks]]'', first published in 1704.  He also formulated an [[Newton's law of cooling|empirical law of cooling]], made the first theoretical calculation of the [[speed of sound]], and introduced the notion of a [[Newtonian fluid]].  In addition to his work on calculus, as a mathematician Newton contributed to the study of power series, generalised the [[binomial theorem]] to non-integer exponents, developed a [[Newton's method|method]] for approximating the [[Zero of a function|roots of a function]], and classified most of the [[cubic plane curve]]s.

Newton was a fellow of [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] and the second [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] at the [[University of Cambridge]].  He was a devout but unorthodox Christian, who privately rejected the doctrine of the [[Trinity]] and who, unusually for a member of the Cambridge faculty of the day, refused to take [[holy orders]] in the [[Church of England]].  Beyond his work on the mathematical sciences, Newton dedicated much of his time to the study of [[alchemy]] and [[Chronology of the Bible|biblical chronology]], but most of his work in those areas remained unpublished until long after his death.  Politically and personally tied to the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig party]], Newton served two brief terms as Member of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] for the University of Cambridge, in 1689–90 and 1701–02.  He was [[knight]]ed by [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] in 1705 and he spent the last three decades of his life in London, serving as [[Warden of the Mint|Warden]] (1696–1700) and [[Master of the Mint|Master]] (1700–1727) of the [[Royal Mint]], as well as president of the [[Royal Society]] (1703–1727).

== Life ==

=== Early life ===
{{Main article|Early life of Isaac Newton}}

Isaac Newton was born (according to the [[Julian calendar]], in use in England at the time) on Christmas Day, 25 December 1642 ([[Old Style and New Style dates|NS]] 4 January 1643<ref name="OSNS"/>) "an hour or two after midnight",<ref>{{cite web|title=Isaac Newton, horoscope for birth date 25 December 1642 Jul.Cal.|url=http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Newton,_Isaac|website=Astro-Databank Wiki|accessdate=4 January 2017}}</ref> at [[Woolsthorpe Manor]] in [[Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth]], a [[hamlet (place)|hamlet]] in the county of Lincolnshire. His father, also named Isaac Newton, had died three months before. [[premature birth|Born prematurely]], Newton was a small child; his mother Hannah Ayscough reportedly said that he could have fit inside a [[quart]] mug.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Storr|first1=Anthony|title=Isaac Newton|journal=British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Edition)|date=December 1985|volume=291|issue=6511|page=1779|jstor=29521701|publisher=BMJ|doi=10.1136/bmj.291.6511.1779}}</ref> When Newton was three, his mother remarried and went to live with her new husband, the Reverend Barnabas Smith, leaving her son in the care of his maternal grandmother, Margery Ayscough. The young Isaac disliked his stepfather and maintained some enmity towards his mother for marrying him, as revealed by this entry in a list of sins committed up to the age of 19: "Threatening my father and mother Smith to burn them and the house over them."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Keynes|first1=Milo|title=Balancing Newton's Mind: His Singular Behaviour and His Madness of 1692–93|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London|date=20 September 2008|volume=62|issue=3|page=293|jstor=20462679|doi=10.1098/rsnr.2007.0025}}</ref> Newton's mother had three children from her second marriage.{{sfn|Westfall|1980|p=55}}

[[File:Sir Isaac Newton by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt.jpg|thumb|upright|Newton in a 1702 portrait by [[Godfrey Kneller]]]]
[[File:Bolton-newton.jpg|thumb|upright|Isaac Newton (''Bolton, Sarah K. Famous Men of Science. NY: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1889'')]]
From the age of about twelve until he was seventeen, Newton was educated at [[The King's School, Grantham]], which taught Latin and Greek and probably imparted a significant foundation of mathematics.<ref>"Newton the Mathematician" Z. Bechler, ed., Contemporary Newtonian Research(Dordrecht 1982) pp 110 – 111</ref> He was removed from school, and by October 1659, he was to be found at [[Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth]], where his mother, widowed for a second time, attempted to make a farmer of him. Newton hated farming.{{sfn|Westfall|1994|pp=16–19}} Henry Stokes, master at the King's School, persuaded his mother to send him back to school so that he might complete his education. Motivated partly by a desire for revenge against a schoolyard bully, he became the top-ranked student,{{sfn|White|1997|p=22}} distinguishing himself mainly by building [[sundial]]s and models of windmills.{{sfn|Westfall|1980|pp=60–62}}

In June 1661, he was admitted to [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], on the recommendation of his uncle Rev William Ayscough, who had studied there. He started as a [[subsizar]]—paying his way by performing [[valet]]'s duties—until he was awarded a scholarship in 1664, guaranteeing him four more years until he could get his M.A.{{sfn|Westfall|1980|pp=71,103}} At that time, the college's teachings were based on those of [[Aristotle]], whom Newton supplemented with modern philosophers such as [[René Descartes|Descartes]], and [[astronomers]] such as [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]] and [[Thomas Street]], through whom he learned of [[Johannes Kepler|Kepler]]'s work. He set down in his notebook a series of '[[Quaestiones quaedam philosophicae|Quaestiones]]' about [[mechanical philosophy]] as he found it. In 1665, he discovered the generalised [[binomial theorem]] and began to develop a mathematical theory that later became [[calculus]]. Soon after Newton had obtained his B.A. degree in August 1665, the university temporarily closed as a precaution against the [[Great Plague of London|Great Plague]]. Although he had been undistinguished as a Cambridge student,<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Michael|editor-last=Hoskins|date=1997|title=Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy|page=159|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0521411585}}</ref> Newton's private studies at his home in Woolsthorpe over the subsequent two years saw the development of his theories on [[calculus]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Newton|first=Isaac|title=Waste Book|url=http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-04004|publisher=Cambridge University Digital Library|accessdate=10 January 2012}}</ref> [[optics]], and the [[law of gravitation]].

In April 1667, he returned to Cambridge and in October was elected as a fellow of Trinity.<ref>{{acad|id=RY644J|name=Newton, Isaac}}</ref>{{sfn|Westfall|1980|p=178}} Fellows were required to become ordained priests, although this was not enforced in the restoration years and an assertion of conformity to the Church of England was sufficient. However, by 1675 the issue could not be avoided and by then his unconventional views stood in the way.{{sfn|Westfall|1980|pp=330–1}} Nevertheless, Newton managed to avoid it by means of a special permission from [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] (see "Middle years" section below).

His studies had impressed the [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics|Lucasian professor]] [[Isaac Barrow]], who was more anxious to develop his own religious and administrative potential (he became master of Trinity two years later); in 1669 Newton succeeded him, only one year after receiving his M.A. He was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1672|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1672]].<ref name=frs/>

=== Middle years ===

==== Mathematics ====
Newton's work has been said "to distinctly advance every branch of mathematics then studied".{{sfn|Ball|1908|p=319}} His work on the subject usually referred to as fluxions or calculus, seen in a manuscript of October 1666, is now published among Newton's mathematical papers.<ref>D T Whiteside (ed.), ''The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton'' (Volume 1), (Cambridge University Press, 1967), part 7 "The October 1666 Tract on Fluxions", [https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZcYsNBptfYC&pg=PA400 at page 400, in 2008 reprint].</ref> The author of the manuscript ''[[De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas]]'', sent by [[Isaac Barrow]] to [[John Collins (mathematician)|John Collins]] in June 1669, was identified by Barrow in a letter sent to Collins in August of that year as:{{sfn|Gjertsen|1986|page=149}}  {{quote|Mr Newton, a fellow of our College, and very young&nbsp;... but of an extraordinary genius and proficiency in these things. }}
Newton later became involved in a dispute with [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]] over priority in the development of calculus (the [[Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy]]). Most modern historians believe that Newton and Leibniz developed [[calculus]] independently, although with very different [[mathematical notation|notations]]. Occasionally it has been suggested that Newton published almost nothing about it until 1693, and did not give a full account until 1704, while Leibniz began publishing a full account of his methods in 1684. (Leibniz's notation and "differential Method", nowadays recognised as much more convenient notations, were adopted by continental European mathematicians, and after 1820 or so, also by British mathematicians.) But such a suggestion fails to account for the content of calculus in [[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica#Book 1, De motu corporum|Book 1]] of Newton's ''Principia'' itself (published 1687) and in its forerunner manuscripts, such as ''[[De motu corporum in gyrum]]'' ("On the motion of bodies in orbit") of 1684; this content has been pointed out by critics of both Newton's time and modern times. The ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]'' is not written in the language of calculus either as we know it or as Newton's (later) 'dot' notation would write it. His work extensively uses calculus in geometric form based on limiting values of the ratios of vanishing small quantities: in the ''Principia'' itself, Newton gave demonstration of this under the name of 'the method of first and last ratios'<ref>Newton, 'Principia', 1729 English translation, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Tm0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA41 at page 41].</ref> and explained why he put his expositions in this form,<ref>Newton, 'Principia', 1729 English translation, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Tm0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA54 at page 54].</ref> remarking also that 'hereby the same thing is performed as by the method of indivisibles'.

Because of this, the ''Principia'' has been called "a book dense with the theory and application of the infinitesimal calculus" in modern times<ref>Clifford Truesdell, ''Essays in the History of Mechanics'' (Berlin, 1968), at p.99.</ref> and "lequel est presque tout de ce calcul" ('nearly all of it is of this calculus') in Newton's time.<ref>In the preface to the Marquis de L'Hospital's ''Analyse des Infiniment Petits'' (Paris, 1696).</ref> His use of methods involving "one or more orders of the infinitesimally small" is present in his ''De motu corporum in gyrum'' of 1684<ref>Starting with [[De motu corporum in gyrum#Contents|De motu corporum in gyrum]], see also [https://books.google.com/books?id=uvMGAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA2 (Latin) Theorem 1].</ref> and in his papers on motion "during the two decades preceding 1684".<ref>D T Whiteside (1970), "The Mathematical principles underlying Newton's Principia Mathematica" in ''Journal for the History of Astronomy'', vol.1, pages 116–138, especially at pages 119–120.</ref>

Newton had been reluctant to publish his calculus because he feared controversy and criticism.{{sfn|Stewart|2009|p=107}} He was close to the Swiss mathematician [[#Duillier|Nicolas Fatio de Duillier]]. In 1691, Duillier started to write a new version of Newton's ''Principia'', and corresponded with Leibniz.{{sfn|Westfall|1980|pp=538–539}} In 1693, the relationship between Duillier and Newton deteriorated and the book was never completed.

Starting in 1699, other members of the [[Royal Society]] (of which Newton was a member) accused Leibniz of [[plagiarism]]. The dispute then broke out in full force in 1711 when the Royal Society proclaimed in a study that it was Newton who was the true discoverer and labelled Leibniz a fraud. This study was cast into doubt when it was later found that Newton himself wrote the study's concluding remarks on Leibniz. Thus began the bitter controversy which marred the lives of both Newton and Leibniz until the latter's death in 1716.{{sfn|Ball|1908|pp=356ff}}

Newton is generally credited with the [[Binomial theorem#Newton's generalised binomial theorem|generalised binomial theorem]], valid for any exponent. He discovered [[Newton's identities]], [[Newton's method]], classified [[cubic plane curve]]s ([[polynomials]] of degree three in two [[variable (mathematics)|variables]]), made substantial contributions to the theory of [[finite differences]], and was the first to use fractional indices and to employ [[coordinate geometry]] to derive solutions to [[Diophantine equations]]. He approximated [[series_(mathematics)|partial]] sums of the [[harmonic series (mathematics)|harmonic series]] by [[logarithms]] (a precursor to [[Euler's summation formula]]) and was the first to use [[power series]] with confidence and to revert power series. Newton's work on infinite series was inspired by [[Simon Stevin]]'s decimals.<ref>{{citation | last1 = Błaszczyk | first1 = Piotr |last2 = Katz | first2 = Mikhail |author2-link = Mikhail Katz | last3 = Sherry | first3 = David | arxiv = 1202.4153 |doi = 10.1007/s10699-012-9285-8 | issue = |journal = [[Foundations of Science]] | pages = | title = Ten misconceptions from the history of analysis and their debunking | volume = |date = 2012}}</ref> 

When Newton received his [[Master of Arts|MA]] and became a Fellow of the "College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity" in 1667, he made the commitment that "I will either set Theology as the object of my studies and will take holy orders when the time prescribed by these statutes [7 years] arrives, or I will resign from the college."{{sfn|Westfall|1980|p=179}} Up till this point he had not thought much about religion and had twice signed his agreement to the [[thirty-nine articles]], the basis of [[Church of England]] doctrine.

He was appointed [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] in 1669 on Barrow's recommendation. During that time, any Fellow of a college at Cambridge or Oxford was required to take [[holy orders]] and become an ordained [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] priest. However, the terms of the Lucasian professorship required that the holder ''not'' be active in the church (presumably so as to have more time for science). Newton argued that this should exempt him from the ordination requirement, and [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], whose permission was needed, accepted this argument. Thus a conflict between Newton's religious views and Anglican orthodoxy was averted.{{sfn|White|1997|p=151}}

==== Optics ====
In 1666, Newton observed that the spectrum of colours exiting a [[Triangular prism (optics)|prism]] in the position of [[minimum deviation]] is oblong, even when the light ray entering the prism is circular, which is to say, the prism refracts different colours by different angles.<ref name="Whittaker" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Olivier Darrigol|title=A History of Optics from Greek Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ye_1AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|date=26 January 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-964437-7|pages=81}}</ref> This led him to conclude that colour is a property intrinsic to light—a point which had been debated in prior years.

[[File:NewtonsTelescopeReplica.jpg|thumb|Replica of Newton's second [[Reflecting telescope]] that he presented to the [[Royal Society]] in 1672<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&dq=history+of+the+telescope |title=The History of the Telescope|page=74  |isbn=978-0-486-43265-6|last=King|first= Henry C|date=2003}}</ref>]]
From 1670 to 1672, Newton lectured on optics.<ref>{{cite web |last=Newton |first=Isaac |title=Hydrostatics, Optics, Sound and Heat|url=http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-03970/|publisher=Cambridge University Digital Library|accessdate=10 January 2012}}</ref> During this period he investigated the [[refraction]] of light, demonstrating that the multicoloured spectrum produced by a prism could be recomposed into white light by a [[lens (optics)|lens]] and a second prism.{{sfn|Ball|1908|p=324}} Modern scholarship has revealed that Newton's analysis and resynthesis of white light owes a debt to [[Corpuscularianism|corpuscular]] alchemy.<ref>[[William R. Newman]],  "Newton's Early Optical Theory and its Debt to Chymistry," in Danielle Jacquart and Michel Hochmann, eds., ''Lumière et vision dans les sciences et dans les arts'' (Geneva: Droz, 2010), pp. 283–307.  A free access online version of this article can be found at [http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/html/Newton_optics-alchemy_Jacquart_paper.pdf the ''Chymistry of Isaac Newton'' project]</ref>

He showed that coloured light does not change its properties by separating out a coloured beam and shining it on various objects, and that regardless of whether reflected, scattered, or transmitted, the light remains the same colour. Thus, he observed that colour is the result of objects interacting with already-coloured light rather than objects generating the colour themselves. This is known as [[Early life of Isaac Newton#Newton's theory of colour|Newton's theory of colour]].{{sfn|Ball|1908|p=325}}

[[File:Dispersive Prism Illustration.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Illustration of a [[dispersive prism]] decomposing white light into the colours of the spectrum, as discovered by Newton]]
From this work, he concluded that the lens of any [[refracting telescope]] would suffer from the [[dispersion (optics)|dispersion]] of light into colours ([[chromatic aberration]]). As a proof of the concept, he constructed a telescope using reflective mirrors instead of lenses as the [[objective (optics)|objective]] to bypass that problem.<ref name="The Early Period (1608–1672)"/><ref name="White 1997, p170"/> Building the design, the first known functional reflecting telescope, today known as a [[Newtonian telescope]],<ref name="White 1997, p170"/> involved solving the problem of a suitable mirror material and shaping technique. Newton ground his own mirrors out of a custom composition of highly reflective [[speculum metal]], using [[Newton's rings]] to judge the [[quality (philosophy)|quality]] of the optics for his telescopes. In late 1668<ref name="books.google.com"/> he was able to produce this first ''reflecting telescope''. It was about eight inches long and it gave a clearer and larger image. In 1671, the Royal Society asked for a demonstration of his reflecting telescope.{{sfn|White|1997|p=168}} Their interest encouraged him to publish his notes, ''Of Colours'',<ref>{{cite web|last1=Newton|first1=Isaac|title=Of Colours|url=http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/NATP00004|website=The Newton Project|accessdate=6 October 2014}}</ref> which he later expanded into the work ''[[Opticks]]''. When [[Robert Hooke]] criticised some of Newton's ideas, Newton was so offended that he withdrew from public debate. Newton and Hooke had brief exchanges in 1679–80, when Hooke, appointed to manage the Royal Society's correspondence, opened up a correspondence intended to elicit contributions from Newton to Royal Society transactions,<ref name="hooke1679nov24"/> which had the effect of stimulating Newton to work out a proof that the elliptical form of planetary orbits would result from a centripetal force inversely proportional to the square of the radius vector (see [[Newton's law of universal gravitation#History|Newton's law of universal gravitation – History]] and ''[[De motu corporum in gyrum]]''). But the two men remained generally on poor terms until Hooke's death.<ref>Iliffe, Robert (2007) Newton. A very short introduction, Oxford University Press 2007</ref>

[[File:Newton-letter-to-briggs 03.jpg|thumb|right|Facsimile of a 1682 letter from Isaac Newton to Dr William Briggs, commenting on Briggs' "A New Theory of Vision"]]

Newton argued that light is composed of particles or corpuscles, which were refracted by accelerating into a denser medium. He verged on soundlike waves to explain the repeated pattern of reflection and transmission by thin films (Opticks Bk.II, Props. 12), but still retained his theory of 'fits' that disposed corpuscles to be reflected or transmitted (Props.13). However, later physicists favoured a purely wavelike explanation of light to account for the [[interference (wave propagation)|interference]] patterns and the general phenomenon of [[diffraction]]. Today's [[quantum mechanics]], [[photons]], and the idea of [[wave–particle duality]] bear only a minor resemblance to Newton's understanding of light.

In his ''Hypothesis of Light'' of 1675, Newton [[wikt:posit|posited]] the existence of the [[luminiferous aether|ether]] to transmit forces between particles. The contact with the [[theosophist]] [[Henry More]], revived his interest in alchemy.<ref name="More"/> He replaced the ether with occult forces based on [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] ideas of attraction and repulsion between particles. [[John Maynard Keynes]], who acquired many of Newton's writings on alchemy, stated that "Newton was not the first of the age of reason: He was the last of the magicians."<ref name="The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes Volume X"/> Newton's interest in alchemy cannot be isolated from his contributions to science.<ref name="More"/> This was at a time when there was no clear distinction between alchemy and science. Had he not relied on the [[occult]] idea of [[action at a distance (physics)|action at a distance]], across a vacuum, he might not have developed his theory of gravity. (See also [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]].)

In 1704, Newton published ''[[Opticks]]'', in which he expounded his corpuscular theory of light. He considered light to be made up of extremely subtle corpuscles, that ordinary matter was made of grosser corpuscles and speculated that through a kind of alchemical transmutation "Are not gross Bodies and Light convertible into one another,&nbsp;... and may not Bodies receive much of their Activity from the Particles of Light which enter their Composition?"<ref name="Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter"/> Newton also constructed a primitive form of a frictional [[electrostatic generator]], using a glass globe.<ref>Opticks, 2nd Ed 1706. Query 8.</ref>

In an article entitled "Newton, prisms, and the 'opticks' of tunable lasers"<ref name="OPN1"/> it is indicated that Newton in his book ''[[Opticks]]'' was the first to show a diagram using a prism as a beam expander. In the same book he describes, via diagrams, the use of multiple-prism arrays. Some 278 years after Newton's discussion, [[beam expander#Multiple-prism beam expanders|multiple-prism beam expanders]] became central to the development of [[laser linewidth|narrow-linewidth]] [[tunable laser]]s. Also, the use of these prismatic beam expanders led to the [[multiple-prism dispersion theory]].<ref name=OPN1/>

Subsequent to Newton, much has been amended. [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Young]] and [[Augustin-Jean Fresnel|Fresnel]] combined Newton's particle theory with [[Christiaan Huygens|Huygens']] wave theory to show that colour is the visible manifestation of light's wavelength. Science also slowly came to realise the difference between perception of colour and mathematisable optics. The German poet and scientist, [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]], could not shake the Newtonian foundation but "one hole Goethe did find in Newton's armour,&nbsp;... Newton had committed himself to the doctrine that refraction without colour was impossible. He therefore thought that the object-glasses of telescopes must for ever remain imperfect, achromatism and refraction being incompatible. This inference was proved by [[John Dollond|
Dollond]] to be wrong."<ref>Tyndall, John. (1880). ''Popular Science Monthly'' Volume 17, July. [[s:Popular Science Monthly/Volume 17/July 1880/Goethe's Farbenlehre: Theory of Colors II]]</ref>

==== Mechanics and gravitation ====
[[File:NewtonsPrincipia.jpg|thumb|Newton's own copy of his ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]'', with hand-written corrections for the second edition]]
{{further information|Writing of Principia Mathematica}}

In 1679, Newton returned to his work on ([[celestial mechanics|celestial]]) mechanics by considering gravitation and its effect on the orbits of [[planet]]s with reference to [[Kepler's laws]] of planetary motion. This followed stimulation by a brief exchange of letters in 1679–80 with Hooke, who had been appointed to manage the Royal Society's correspondence, and who opened a correspondence intended to elicit contributions from Newton to Royal Society transactions.<ref name=hooke1679nov24 /> Newton's reawakening interest in astronomical matters received further stimulus by the appearance of a comet in the winter of 1680–1681, on which he corresponded with [[John Flamsteed]].{{sfn|Westfall|1980|pp=391–2}} After the exchanges with Hooke, Newton worked out proof that the elliptical form of planetary orbits would result from a centripetal force inversely proportional to the square of the radius vector (see [[Newton's law of universal gravitation#History|Newton's law of universal gravitation – History]] and ''De motu corporum in gyrum''). Newton communicated his results to [[Edmond Halley]] and to the Royal Society in ''[[De motu corporum in gyrum]]'', a tract written on about nine sheets which was copied into the Royal Society's Register Book in December 1684.<ref>D T Whiteside (ed.), 'Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton', vol.6, 1684–1691, Cambridge University Press 1974, at page 30.</ref> This tract contained the nucleus that Newton developed and expanded to form the ''Principia''.

The ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]'' was published on 5 July 1687 with encouragement and financial help from [[Edmond Halley]]. In this work, Newton stated the three universal laws of motion. Together, these laws describe the relationship between any object, the forces acting upon it and the resulting motion, laying the foundation for [[classical mechanics]]. They contributed to many advances during the [[Industrial Revolution]] which soon followed and were not improved upon for more than 200 years. Many of these advancements continue to be the underpinnings of non-relativistic technologies in the modern world. He used the Latin word ''gravitas'' (weight) for the effect that would become known as [[gravity]], and defined the law of [[Newton's law of universal gravitation|universal gravitation]].{{cn|date=March 2017}}

In the same work, Newton presented a calculus-like method of geometrical analysis using 'first and last ratios', gave the first analytical determination (based on [[Boyle's law]]) of the speed of sound in air, inferred the oblateness of Earth's spheroidal figure, accounted for the precession of the equinoxes as a result of the Moon's gravitational attraction on the Earth's oblateness, initiated the gravitational study of the [[Lunar theory#Newton|irregularities in the motion of the moon]], provided a theory for the determination of the orbits of comets, and much more.{{cn|date=March 2017}}

Newton made clear his [[heliocentric]] view of the Solar System—developed in a somewhat modern way, because already in the mid-1680s he recognised the "deviation of the Sun" from the centre of gravity of the Solar System.<ref>See Curtis Wilson, "The Newtonian achievement in astronomy", pages 233–274 in R Taton & C Wilson (eds) (1989) ''The General History of Astronomy'', Volume, 2A', [https://books.google.com/books?id=rkQKU-wfPYMC&pg=PA233 at page 233].</ref> For Newton, it was not precisely the centre of the Sun or any other body that could be considered at rest, but rather "the common centre of gravity of the Earth, the Sun and all the Planets is to be esteem'd the Centre of the World", and this centre of gravity "either is at rest or moves uniformly forward in a right line" (Newton adopted the "at rest" alternative in view of common consent that the centre, wherever it was, was at rest).<ref>Text quotations are from 1729 translation of Newton's ''Principia'', Book 3 (1729 vol.2) [https://books.google.com/books?id=6EqxPav3vIsC&pg=PA233 at pages 232–233].</ref>

Newton's postulate of an invisible [[action at a distance (physics)|force able to act over vast distances]] led to him being criticised for introducing "[[occult]] agencies" into science.<ref>Edelglass et al., ''Matter and Mind'', {{isbn|0-940262-45-2}}. p. 54</ref> Later, in the second edition of the ''Principia'' (1713), Newton firmly rejected such criticisms in a concluding [[General Scholium]], writing that it was enough that the phenomena implied a gravitational attraction, as they did; but they did not so far indicate its cause, and it was both unnecessary and improper to frame hypotheses of things that were not implied by the phenomena. (Here Newton used what became his famous expression ''"hypotheses non-fingo"''<ref>On the meaning and origins of this expression, see Kirsten Walsh, [https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/2010/10/does-newton-feign-an-hypothesis/ Does Newton feign an hypothesis?], [https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/ Early Modern Experimental Philosophy], 18 October 2010.</ref>).

With the ''Principia'', Newton became internationally recognised.{{sfn|Westfall|1980|loc=Chapter 11}} He acquired a circle of admirers, including the Swiss-born mathematician [[#Duillier|Nicolas Fatio de Duillier]].{{cn|date=March 2017}}

=== Classification of cubics ===
[[Descartes]] was the most important early influence on Newton the mathematician. Newton classified the [[Cubic plane curve|cubic curves in the plane]]. He found 72 of the 78 species of cubics.  He also divided them into four types, satisfying different equations, and in 1717 [[James Stirling (mathematician)|Stirling]], probably with Newton's help, proved that every cubic was one of these four types. Newton also claimed that the four types could be obtained by plane projection from one of them, and this was proved in 1731.<ref>''Conics and Cubics,'' Robert Bix, Springer [[Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics]], 2nd edition, 2006, Springer Verlag.</ref>

=== Later life ===
[[File:Newton 25.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Isaac Newton in old age in 1712, portrait by [[Sir James Thornhill]]]]
{{Main article|Later life of Isaac Newton}}
In the 1690s, Newton wrote a number of [[religious tracts]] dealing with the literal and symbolic interpretation of the Bible. A manuscript Newton sent to [[John Locke]] in which he disputed the fidelity of [[1 John 5:7]] and its fidelity to the original manuscripts of the New Testament, remained unpublished until 1785.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/locke/mss/c1690.html|title=John Locke Manuscripts – Chronological Listing: 1690|work=psu.edu}}</ref><ref>John C. Attig, [http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/locke/bib/ch5c.html#01160 John Locke Bibliography — Chapter 5, Religion, 1751–1900]</ref>

Even though a number of authors have claimed that the work might have been an indication that Newton disputed the belief in [[Trinity]], others assure that Newton did question the passage but never denied Trinity as such. His biographer, scientist [[Sir David Brewster]], who compiled his manuscripts for over 20 years, wrote about the controversy in well-known book ''Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton'', where he explains that Newton questioned the veracity of those passages, but he never denied the doctrine of Trinity as such. Brewster states that Newton was never known as an [[Arianism|Arian]] during his lifetime, it was first [[William Whiston]] (an Arian) who argued that "Sir Isaac Newton was so hearty for the Baptists, as well as for the Eusebians or Arians, that he sometimes suspected these two were the two witnesses in the Revelations," while other like [[Hopton Haynes]] (a Mint employee and Humanitarian), "mentioned to [[Richard Baron (dissenting minister)|Richard Baron]], that Newton held the same doctrine as himself".<ref>David Brewster. "Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton:" p.268.</ref>

Later works—''[[The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended]]'' (1728) and ''Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John'' (1733)—were published after his death. He also devoted a great deal of time to [[alchemy]] (see above).<!--old cite was (Westfall 1980, pp. 530–1) "notes that Newton apparently abandoned his alchemical researches"-->

Newton was also a member of the [[Parliament of England]] for [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge University]] in 1689–90 and 1701–2, but according to some accounts his only comments were to complain about a cold draught in the chamber and request that the window be closed.{{sfn|White|1997|p=232}}<ref>{{cite book |first1=E.R. |last1=Edwards |first2=Geoffrey |last2=Jaggar |chapter=Newton, Isaac (1642–1727) |title=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690 |editor-first=B.D. |editor-last=Henning |date=1983 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/newton-isaac-1642-1727 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=D.W. |last=Hayton |chapter=Newton, Isaac (1642–1727) |title=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690–1715 |editor1-first=D. |editor1-last=Hayton |editor2-first=E. |editor2-last=Cruickshanks |editor3-first=S. |editor3-last=Handley |date=2002 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/newton-isaac-1642-1727 }}</ref>  He was however noted by Cambridge diarist [[Abraham de la Pryme]] as having rebuked students who were frightening local residents by claiming that a house was haunted.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/06/what-students-should-avoid-during-freshers-week-100-years-ago-an/|title=What students should avoid during fresher's week (100years ago and now)|author=Patrick Sawer|work=Daily Telegraph|date=6 September 2016|accessdate=7 September 2016}}</ref>

Newton moved to London to take up the post of warden of the [[Royal Mint]] in 1696, a position that he had obtained through the patronage of [[Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax]], then [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. He took charge of England's great recoining, somewhat treading on the toes of Lord Lucas, Governor of the Tower (and securing the job of deputy [[comptroller]] of the temporary Chester branch for Edmond Halley). Newton became perhaps the best-known [[Master of the Mint]] upon the death of [[Thomas Neale]] in 1699, a position Newton held for the last 30 years of his life.<ref name="Mint">{{cite episode |series=Science Friday |title=Isaac Newton: Physicist And&nbsp;... Crime Fighter? |airdate=5 June 2009 |transcript=Transcript|transcripturl=http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=105012144 |episodelink=|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105012144 |network=NPR|accessdate=1 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Newton and the counterfeiter: the unknown detective career of the world's greatest scientist |first=Thomas |last=Levenson |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-15-101278-7 |oclc=276340857}}</ref> These appointments were intended as [[sinecure]]s, but Newton took them seriously, retiring from his Cambridge duties in 1701, and exercising his power to reform the currency and punish [[debasement|clippers]] and counterfeiters.

As Warden, and afterwards Master, of the Royal Mint, Newton estimated that 20 percent of the coins taken in during the [[Great Recoinage of 1696]] were [[counterfeit]]. Counterfeiting was [[High treason in the United Kingdom|high treason]], punishable by the felon being [[hanged, drawn and quartered]]. Despite this, convicting even the most flagrant criminals could be extremely difficult. However, Newton proved equal to the task.{{sfn|White|1997|p=259}}

Disguised as a habitué of bars and taverns, he gathered much of that evidence himself.{{sfn|White|1997|p=267}} For all the barriers placed to prosecution, and separating the branches of government, [[English law]] still had ancient and formidable customs of authority. Newton had himself made a [[justice of the peace]] in all the home counties—there is a draft of a letter regarding this matter stuck into Newton's personal first edition of his ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' which he must have been amending at the time.<ref>{{cite web|last=Newton|first=Isaac|title=Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|url=http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PR-ADV-B-00039-00001/|publisher=Cambridge University Digital Library|accessdate=10 January 2012|pages=265–266}}</ref> Then he conducted more than 100 cross-examinations of witnesses, informers, and suspects between June 1698 and Christmas 1699. Newton successfully prosecuted 28 coiners.{{sfn|Westfall|2007|p=73}}

As a result of a report written by Newton on 21 September 1717 to the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury the bimetallic relationship between gold coins and silver coins was changed by Royal proclamation on 22 December 1717, forbidding the exchange of gold guineas for more than 21 silver shillings.<ref>[http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1701-25-mint-reports/report-1717-09-25.html On the Value of Gold and Silver in European Currencies and the Consequences on the World-wide Gold- and Silver-Trade], Sir Isaac Newton, 21 September 1717.</ref><ref>By The King, A Proclamation Declaring the Rates at which Gold shall be current in Payments [https://archive.org/details/numismaticser1v05royauoft reproduced in the numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, Vol V., April 1842 – January 1843]</ref> This inadvertently resulted in a silver shortage as silver coins were used to pay for imports, while exports were paid for in gold, effectively moving Britain from the [[silver standard]] to its first [[gold standard]]. It is a matter of debate as whether he intended to do this or not.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=3020836|title=Newton and the Gold Standard|first=C. R.|last=Fay|date=1 January 1935|publisher=|journal=Cambridge Historical Journal|volume=5|issue=1|pages=109–117|via=|doi=10.1017/S1474691300001256}}</ref> It has been argued that Newton conceived of his work at the Mint as a continuation of his alchemical work.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/newton.htm |title=Sir Isaac Newton's Unpublished Manuscripts Explain Connections He Made Between Alchemy and Economics |publisher=Gtresearchnews.gatech.edu |date=12 September 2006 |accessdate=30 July 2014}}</ref>

Newton was made President of the [[Royal Society]] in 1703 and an associate of the French [[French Academy of Sciences|Académie des Sciences]]. In his position at the Royal Society, Newton made an enemy of [[John Flamsteed]], the [[Astronomer Royal]], by prematurely publishing Flamsteed's ''Historia Coelestis Britannica'', which Newton had used in his studies.{{sfn|White|1997|p=317}}

[[File:ENG COA Newton.svg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the Newton family of Gunnerby, Lincolnshire, afterwards used by Sir Isaac<ref>{{cite book |first=Anthony |last=Wagner |authorlink=Anthony Wagner |title=Historic Heraldry of Britain |publisher=Phillimore |place=London and Chichester |edition=2nd |year=1972 |isbn=0-85033-022-X |page=85}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Genealogical Memoranda Relating to the Family of Newton |place=London |publisher=Taylor and Co. |year=1871 |url=https://archive.org/details/genealogicalmemo00inlond }}</ref><ref name="Coat of arms of Isaac Newton"/>]]
In April 1705, Queen Anne [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] Newton during a royal visit to Trinity College, Cambridge. The knighthood is likely to have been motivated by political considerations connected with the [[Parliamentary elections|Parliamentary election]] in May 1705, rather than any recognition of Newton's scientific work or services as Master of the Mint.<ref>"The Queen's 'great Assistance' to Newton's election was his knighting, an honor bestowed not for his contributions to science, nor for his service at the Mint, but for the greater glory of party politics in the election of 1705." {{harvnb|Westfall|1994|p=245}}</ref> Newton was the second scientist to be knighted, after Sir [[Francis Bacon]].<ref>{{cite web|title=This Day in History: Isaac Newton is Knighted|url=http://www.historychannel.com.au/classroom/day-in-history/553/isaac-newton-is-knighted|website=History Channel|publisher=A&E Television Networks|accessdate=18 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Barnham|first1=Kay|title=Isaac Newton|date=2014|publisher=Raintree|location=2014|isbn=978-1-4109-6235-5|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2f5LAgAAQBAJ|accessdate=18 August 2014}}</ref>

Newton was one of many people who lost heavily when the [[South Sea Company]] collapsed.  Their most significant trade was slaves, and according to his niece, he lost around £20,000.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Holodny|first1=Elena|title=Isaac Newton was a genius, but even he lost millions in the stock market|url=http://www.businessinsider.com.au/isaac-newton-lost-a-fortune-on-englands-hottest-stock-2016-1|publisher=Business Insider|accessdate=6 April 2016}}</ref>

Towards the end of his life, Newton took up residence at [[Cranbury Park]], near [[Winchester]] with his niece and her husband, until his death in 1727.<ref name = "Yonge6">{{cite web|last=[[Charlotte M. Yonge|Yonge]] |first=Charlotte M. |title=Cranbury and Brambridge|url=http://www.online-literature.com/charlotte-yonge/john-keble/6/ |date= 1898|work=[[John Keble]]'s Parishes&nbsp;– Chapter 6 |publisher=www.online-literature.com|accessdate=23 September 2009}}</ref> His half-niece, [[Catherine Barton Conduitt]],{{sfn|Westfall| 1980|p=44}} served as his hostess in social affairs at his house on [[Jermyn Street]] in London; he was her "very loving Uncle",{{sfn|Westfall| 1980|p=595}} according to his letter to her when she was recovering from [[smallpox]].

Newton died in his sleep in London on 20 March 1727 ([[Old Style and New Style dates|OS]] 20 March 1726; [[Old Style and New Style dates|NS]] 31 March 1727)<ref name="OSNS"/> and was buried in [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=6569 |date=1 April 1727  |page=7 }}</ref> [[Voltaire]] may have been present at his funeral.<ref>Dobre and Nyden suggest that there is no clear evidence that Voltaire was present; see page 89 of {{cite book|title=Cartesian Empiricism|author=Mihnea Dobre, Tammy Nyden|publisher=Springer|year=2013|isbn=978-94-007-7690-6}}</ref> A bachelor, he had divested much of his estate to relatives during his last years, and died [[intestacy|intestate]].<ref name="Newton, Isaac (1642–1727)"/> His papers went to John Conduitt and Catherine Barton.<ref name="Mann"/> After his death, Newton's hair was examined and found to contain [[mercury (element)|mercury]], probably resulting from his alchemical pursuits. [[Mercury poisoning]] could explain Newton's eccentricity in late life.<ref name="Newton, Isaac (1642–1727)"/>

===Personal relations===
Although it was claimed that he was once engaged,<ref>This claim was made by [[William Stukeley]] in 1727, in a letter about Newton written to [[Richard Mead]]. [[Charles Hutton]], who in the late eighteenth century collected oral traditions about earlier scientists, declared that there "do not appear to be any sufficient reason for his never marrying, if he had an inclination so to do. It is much more likely that he had a constitutional indifference to the state, and even to the sex in general." Charles Hutton, ''A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary'' (1795/6), vol. 2, p. 100.</ref> Newton never married. The French writer and philosopher [[Voltaire]], who was in London at the time of Newton's funeral, said that he "was never sensible to any passion, was not subject to the common frailties of mankind, nor had any commerce with women—a circumstance which was assured me by the physician and surgeon who attended him in his last moments".<ref>{{cite book|title=Letters on England|author=Voltaire|chapter= 14|date=1894|page=100|url=https://archive.org/stream/lettersonenglan00voltgoog#page/n102}}</ref> The widespread belief that he died a [[Virginity|virgin]] has been commented on by writers such as mathematician [[Charles Hutton]],<ref>{{cite book |title=A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary Containing&nbsp;... Memoirs of the Lives and Writings of the Most Eminent Authors, Volume 2 |last=Hutton |first=Charles |authorlink=Charles Hutton |date=1815 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xk2AAAAQAAJ&pg=PA100}}</ref> economist [[John Maynard Keynes]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Extras/Keynes_Newton.html |title=Newton: the Man |first=John Maynard |last=Keynes |publisher=[[University of St Andrews]] School of Mathematics and Statistics |accessdate=11 September 2012}}</ref> and physicist [[Carl Sagan]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Cosmos |last=Sagan |first=Carl |authorlink=Carl Sagan |date=1980 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=0-394-50294-9 |page=68 |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=Cl06FjKX6doC}}</ref>

{{anchor|Duillier}}Newton did have a close friendship with the Swiss mathematician [[Nicolas Fatio de Duillier]], whom he met in London around 1689.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/ufhatch/pages/13-NDFE/newton/05-newton-timeline-m.htm |title=Newton Timeline |author=Professor Robert A. Hatch, University of Florida |accessdate=13 August 2012}}</ref> Their intense relationship came to an abrupt and unexplained end in 1693, and at the same time Newton suffered a [[nervous breakdown]].<ref>{{harvnb|Westfall| 1980|pp= 493–497}} on the friendship with Fatio, pp 531–540 on Newton's breakdown.</ref> Some of their correspondence has survived.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=CV%2FPers%2FDuillier%2C%20Nicholas%20Fatio%20de%20%281664-1753%29%20mathematician%20and%20natural%20philosopher |title=Duillier, Nicholas Fatio de (1664–1753) mathematician and natural philosopher |publisher=Janus database |accessdate=22 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/search?style=oac4;Institution=UCLA::Clark%20%28William%20Andrews%29%20Memorial%20Library;idT=4859632 |title=Collection Guide: Fatio de Duillier, Nicolas [Letters to Isaac Newton] |publisher=Online Archive of California |accessdate=22 March 2013}}</ref>

In September of that year, Newton had a breakdown which included sending wild accusatory letters to his friends [[Samuel Pepys]] and [[John Locke]]. His note to the latter included the charge that Locke "endeavoured to embroil me with woemen".{{sfn|Manuel|1968|p=219}}

== After death ==
{{See also|Isaac Newton in popular culture}}

=== Fame ===
The mathematician [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Joseph-Louis Lagrange]] often said that Newton was the greatest genius who ever lived, and once added that Newton was also "the most fortunate, for we cannot find more than once a system of the world to establish."<ref>Fred L. Wilson, ''History of Science: Newton'' citing: Delambre, M. "Notice sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. le comte J. L. Lagrange," ''Oeuvres de Lagrange'' I. Paris, 1867, p. xx.</ref> English poet [[Alexander Pope]] was moved by Newton's accomplishments to write the famous [[epitaph]]:
<blockquote>
Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;<br>
God said "Let Newton be" and all was light.</blockquote>

Newton himself had been rather more modest of his own achievements, famously writing in a letter to [[Robert Hooke]] in February 1676:
<blockquote>If I have seen further it is by [[standing on the shoulders of giants]].<ref>Letter from Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke, 5 February 1676, as transcribed in Jean-Pierre Maury (1992) ''Newton: Understanding the Cosmos'', New Horizons</ref></blockquote>

Two writers think that the above quotation, written at a time when Newton and Hooke were in dispute over optical discoveries, was an oblique attack on Hooke (said to have been short and hunchbacked), rather than—or in addition to—a statement of modesty.<ref>John Gribbin (2002) ''Science: A History 1543–2001'', p 164.</ref>{{sfn|White|1997|p=187}}  On the other hand, the widely known proverb about [[standing on the shoulders of giants]], published among others by seventeenth-century poet [[George Herbert]] (a former orator of the University of Cambridge and fellow of Trinity College) in his ''Jacula Prudentum'' (1651), had as its main point that "a dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees farther of the two", and so its effect as an analogy would place Newton himself rather than Hooke as the 'dwarf'.

In a later memoir, Newton wrote:
<blockquote>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 sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.<ref>Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton (1855) by Sir David Brewster (Volume II. Ch. 27)</ref></blockquote>

In 1816, a tooth said to have belonged to Newton was sold for £730<ref>{{cite news|date=16 January 1881|title=Silly relic-worship|newspaper=The New York Times|page=10|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02E4DE1730EE3ABC4E52DFB766838A699FDE|accessdate=12 July 2009}}</ref> ({{smallcaps|us}}$3,633) in London to an aristocrat who had it set in a ring.<ref name=Guinness>{{cite book|title=Guinness World Records 2002|url=http://www.amazon.com/Guinness-World-Records-Antonia-Cunningham/dp/product-description/0553583786|accessdate=12 July 2009}}</ref> The ''[[Guinness World Records]] 2002'' classified it as the most valuable tooth, which would value approximately £25,000 ({{smallcaps|us}}$35,700) in late 2001.<ref name=Guinness/> Who bought it and who currently has it has not been disclosed.

[[Albert Einstein]] kept a picture of Newton on his study wall alongside ones of [[Michael Faraday]] and [[James Clerk Maxwell]].<ref>"Einstein's Heroes: Imagining the World through the Language of Mathematics", by Robyn Arianrhod UQP, reviewed by Jane Gleeson-White, 10 November 2003, ''The Sydney Morning Herald''</ref> Newton remains influential to today's scientists, as demonstrated by a 2005 survey of members of Britain's [[Royal Society]] (formerly headed by Newton) asking who had the greater effect on the history of science, Newton or Einstein. Royal Society scientists deemed Newton to have made the greater overall contribution.<ref name="royalsoc.ac.uk"/> In 1999, an opinion poll of 100 of today's leading physicists voted Einstein the "greatest physicist ever;" with Newton the runner-up, while a parallel survey of rank-and-file physicists by the site PhysicsWeb gave the top spot to Newton.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/541840.stm|title=Opinion poll. Einstein voted "greatest physicist ever" by leading physicists; Newton runner-up|publisher=BBC News |date=29 November 1999|accessdate=17 January 2012}}</ref>

===Commemorations===
[[File:Isaac Newton statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Newton statue on display at the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]]]]
Newton's monument (1731) can be seen in [[Westminster Abbey]], at the north of the entrance to the choir against the choir screen, near his tomb. It was executed by the sculptor [[Michael Rysbrack]] (1694–1770) in white and grey marble with design by the architect [[William Kent]]. The monument features a figure of Newton reclining on top of a sarcophagus, his right elbow resting on several of his great books and his left hand pointing to a scroll with a mathematical design. Above him is a pyramid and a celestial globe showing the signs of the Zodiac and the path of the comet of 1680. A relief panel depicts [[putti]] using instruments such as a telescope and prism.<ref name="wmabbey"/> The Latin inscription on the base translates as:<blockquote>Here is buried Isaac Newton, Knight, who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical principles peculiarly his own, explored the course and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, the tides of the sea, the dissimilarities in rays of light, and, what no other scholar has previously imagined, the properties of the colours thus produced. Diligent, sagacious and faithful, in his expositions of nature, antiquity and the holy Scriptures, he vindicated by his philosophy the majesty of God mighty and good, and expressed the simplicity of the Gospel in his manners. Mortals rejoice that there has existed such and so great an ornament of the human race! He was born on 25 December 1642, and died on 20 March 1726/7.—Translation from G.L. Smyth, ''The Monuments and Genii of St. Paul's Cathedral, and of Westminster Abbey'' (1826), ii, 703–4.<ref name="wmabbey"/></blockquote>

From 1978 until 1988, an image of Newton designed by Harry Ecclestone appeared on Series D £1 [[banknotes of the pound sterling|banknotes]] issued by the [[Bank of England]] (the last £1 notes to be issued by the Bank of England). Newton was shown on the reverse of the notes holding a book and accompanied by a telescope, a prism and a map of the [[Solar System]].<ref name="bankofengland"/>
[[File:Newton by Eduardo Paolozzi 2003-03-10.jpg|thumb|left|[[Eduardo Paolozzi]]'s ''[[Newton, after William Blake]]'' (1995), outside the British Library]]
A statue of Isaac Newton, looking at an apple at his feet, can be seen at the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]]. A large bronze statue, ''[[Newton, after William Blake]]'', by [[Eduardo Paolozzi]], dated 1995 and inspired by [[William Blake|Blake]]'s [[Newton (Blake)|etching]], dominates the piazza of the [[British Library]] in London.

==Religious views==
{{Main article|Religious views of Isaac Newton}}
[[File:Isaac Newton grave in Westminster Abbey.jpg|thumb|upright|Newton's tomb monument in [[Westminster Abbey]]]]
Although born into an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] family, by his thirties Newton held a Christian faith that, had it been made public, would not have been considered orthodox by mainstream Christianity;<ref name="Newton - 1">[[Richard S. Westfall]] – [[Indiana University]] {{cite book|url=http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/newton.html|title=The Galileo Project|publisher=([[Rice University]])|accessdate=5 July 2008}}</ref> in recent times he has been described as a [[heresy|heretic]].<ref name="heretic">{{cite journal|last=Snobelen |first=Stephen D. |authorlink=Stephen Snobelen|title=Isaac Newton, heretic: the strategies of a Nicodemite|journal=British Journal for the History of Science|volume=32|pages=381–419|date=1999|url=http://isaacnewtonstheology.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/heretic.pdf|format=PDF|doi=10.1017/S0007087499003751|issue=4}}</ref>

By 1672 he had started to record his theological researches in notebooks which he showed to no one and which have only recently been examined. They demonstrate an extensive knowledge of early church writings and show that in the conflict between [[Athanasius]] and [[Arius]] which defined the [[Athanasian Creed|Creed]], he took the side of Arius, the loser, who rejected the conventional view of the [[Trinity]]. Newton "recognized Christ as a divine mediator between God and man, who was subordinate to the Father who created him."{{sfn|Westfall|1980|p=315}} He was especially interested in prophecy, but for him, "the [[great apostasy]] was trinitarianism."{{sfn|Westfall|1980|p=321}}

Newton tried unsuccessfully to obtain one of the two fellowships that exempted the holder from the ordination requirement. At the last moment in 1675 he received a dispensation from the government that excused him and all future holders of the Lucasian chair.{{sfn|Westfall|1980|pp=331–334}}

In Newton's eyes, worshipping Christ as God was [[idolatry]], to him the fundamental sin. {{sfn|Westfall|1994|p=124}} Historian [[Stephen Snobelen|Stephen D. Snobelen]] says, "Isaac Newton was a [[heresy|heretic]]. But&nbsp;... he never made a public declaration of his private faith—which the orthodox would have deemed extremely radical. He hid his faith so well that scholars are still unravelling his personal beliefs."<ref name="heretic"/> Snobelen concludes that Newton was at least a [[Socinian]] sympathiser (he owned and had thoroughly read at least eight Socinian books), possibly an [[Arianism|Arian]] and almost certainly an [[anti-trinitarian]].<ref name="heretic"/>

In a minority view, T.C. Pfizenmaier argues that Newton held the [[Eastern Orthodox]] view on the Trinity.<ref name="Was Isaac Newton an Arian?"/> However, this type of view 'has lost support of late with the availability of Newton's theological papers',<ref>{{cite journal|last=Snobelen |first=Stephen D. |title=Isaac Newton, heretic: the strategies of a Nicodemite |journal=British Journal for the History of Science |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=381–419 [383] |date=1999 |url=http://www.isaac-newton.org/heretic.pdf |format=PDF |doi=10.1017/S0007087499003751 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007005450/http://isaac-newton.org/heretic.pdf |archivedate= 7 October 2013 |df= }}</ref> and now most scholars identify Newton as an [[Nontrinitarianism|Antitrinitarian]] [[monotheist]].<ref name="heretic"/><ref name="dulles"/>

Although the laws of motion and universal gravitation became Newton's best-known discoveries, he warned against using them to view the Universe as a mere machine, as if akin to a great clock. He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."<ref name="tiner"/>

Along with his scientific fame, Newton's studies of the Bible and of the early [[Church Fathers]] were also noteworthy. Newton wrote works on [[textual criticism]], most notably ''[[An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture]]'' and ''Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John''.<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16878 'Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John''] 1733</ref> He placed the crucifixion of [[Jesus Christ]] at 3 April, AD 33, which agrees with one traditionally accepted date.<ref>John P. Meier, ''[[John P. Meier#A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus|A Marginal Jew]]'', v. 1, pp. 382–402 after narrowing the years to 30 or 33, provisionally judges 30 most likely.</ref>

He believed in a rationally [[immanent]] world, but he rejected the [[hylozoism]] implicit in [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]] and [[Baruch Spinoza]]. The ordered and dynamically informed Universe could be understood, and must be understood, by an active reason. In his correspondence, Newton claimed that in writing the ''Principia'' "I had an eye upon such Principles as might work with considering men for the belief of a Deity".<ref>Newton to [[Richard Bentley]] 10 December 1692, in Turnbull et al. (1959–77), vol 3, p. 233.</ref> He saw evidence of design in the system of the world: "Such a wonderful uniformity in the planetary system must be allowed the effect of choice". But Newton insisted that divine intervention would eventually be required to reform the system, due to the slow growth of instabilities.<ref>Opticks, 2nd Ed 1706. Query 31.</ref> For this, Leibniz lampooned him: "God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time: otherwise it would cease to move. He had not, it seems, sufficient foresight to make it a perpetual motion."<ref>H. G. Alexander (ed) ''The Leibniz-Clarke correspondence'', [[Manchester University Press]], 1998, p. 11.</ref>

Newton's position was vigorously defended by his follower [[Samuel Clarke]] in a [[Leibniz-Clarke correspondence|famous correspondence]]. A century later, [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]]'s work "[[Celestial Mechanics]]" had a natural explanation for why the planet orbits do not require periodic divine intervention.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Neil Degrasse|last=Tyson|work=Natural History Magazine|date=1 November 2005|title=The Perimeter of Ignorance|url=http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/2005/11/01/the-perimeter-of-ignorance|accessdate=7 January 2016}}</ref>

===Effect on religious thought===
Newton and [[Robert Boyle]]'s approach to the [[mechanical philosophy]] was promoted by [[rationalist]] pamphleteers as a viable alternative to the [[pantheism|pantheists]] and [[enthusiasm|enthusiasts]], and was accepted hesitantly by orthodox preachers as well as dissident preachers like the [[latitudinarian]]s.<ref name="The Newtonians and the English Revolution: 1689–1720"/> The clarity and simplicity of science was seen as a way to combat the emotional and [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] superlatives of both [[superstition|superstitious]] enthusiasm and the threat of [[atheism]],<ref name="Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England"/> and at the same time, the second wave of English [[deism|deists]] used Newton's discoveries to demonstrate the possibility of a "Natural Religion".
[[File:Newton-WilliamBlake.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Newton (Blake)|Newton]]'', by [[William Blake]]; here, Newton is depicted critically as a "divine geometer". This copy of the work is currently held by the [[Tate Collection]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/copyinfo.xq?copyid=but306.1|title=Newton, object 1 (Butlin 306) "Newton"|date=25 September 2013|publisher=[[William Blake Archive]]}}</ref>]]

The attacks made against pre-[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] "magical thinking", and the [[Christian mysticism|mystical elements of Christianity]], were given their foundation with Boyle's mechanical conception of the Universe. Newton gave Boyle's ideas their completion through [[mathematical proof]]s and, perhaps more importantly, was very successful in popularising them.<ref name="Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain"/>

===Occult===
{{See also|Isaac Newton's occult studies|eschatology}}
In a manuscript he wrote in 1704 in which he describes his attempts to extract scientific information from the Bible, he estimated that the world would end no earlier than 2060. In predicting this he said, "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail."<ref name="Papers Show Isaac Newton's Religious Side, Predict Date of Apocalypse"/>

===Alchemy===

In the character of Morton Opperly in "Poor Superman" (1951), speculative fiction author [[Fritz Leiber]] says of Newton, "Everyone knows Newton as the great scientist. Few remember that he spent half his life muddling with alchemy, looking for the [[philosopher's stone]]. That was the pebble by the seashore he really wanted to find."<ref name="Heinlein">{{cite book|last1=Leiber|chapter=Poor Superman|first1=Fritz|editor-last=Heinlein|editor-first=Robert A.|title=Tomorrow, the Stars|date=1981|publisher=Berkley Book / published by arrangement with Doubleday & Company, Inc.|location=New York|edition=16th|page=208|quote="First published in ''Galaxy'' magazine, July 1951; Variously titled ''Appointment in Tomorrow''; in some reprints of Leiber's story the sentence 'That was the pebble..' is replaced by 'Which Newton did the world need then?'"}}</ref>

Of an estimated ten million words of writing in Newton's papers, about one million deal with [[alchemy]]. Many of Newton's writings on alchemy are copies of other manuscripts, with his own annotations.<ref name="Mann"/> Alchemical texts mix artisanal knowledge with philosophical speculation, often hidden behind layers of wordplay, allegory, and imagery to protect craft secrets.<ref name="Meyer">{{cite journal|last1=Meyer|first1=Michal|title=Gold, secrecy and prestige|journal=Chemical Heritage Magazine|date=2014|volume=32|issue=1|pages=42–43|url=https://www.chemheritage.org/distillations/magazine/gold-secrecy-and-prestige|accessdate=25 April 2016}}</ref> Some of the content contained in Newton's papers could have been considered heretical by the church.<ref name="Mann"/>

In 1888, after spending sixteen years cataloging Newton's papers, Cambridge University kept a small number and returned the rest to the Earl of Portsmouth. In 1936, a descendant offered the papers for sale at Sotheby's.<ref name="Kean"/> The collection was broken up and sold for a total of about £9,000.<ref name="Greshko">{{cite journal|last1=Greshko|first1=Michael|title=Isaac Newton's Lost Alchemy Recipe Rediscovered|journal=National Geographic|date=4 April 2016|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160404-isaac-newton-alchemy-mercury-recipe-chemistry-science/}}</ref> [[John Maynard Keynes]] was one of about three dozen bidders who obtained part of the collection at auction. Keynes went on to reassemble an estimated half of Newton's collection of papers on alchemy before donating his collection to Cambridge University in 1946.<ref name="Mann">{{cite news|last1=Mann|first1=Adam|title=The Strange, Secret History of Isaac Newton's Papers|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/05/newton-papers-q-and-a/|accessdate=25 April 2016|work=Science|date=14 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="Kean">{{cite journal|last1=Kean|first1=Sam|title=Newton, The Last Magician|journal=Humanities|date=2011|volume=32|issue=1|url=http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2011/januaryfebruary/feature/newton-the-last-magician|accessdate=25 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="Dry">{{cite book|last1=Dry|first1=Sarah|title=The Newton papers : the strange and true odyssey of Isaac Newton's manuscripts|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0199951048}}</ref>

All of Newton's known writings on alchemy are currently being put online in a project undertaken by [[Indiana University]]: "The Chymistry of Isaac Newton".<ref name="Indiana">{{cite web|title=The Chymistry of Isaac Newton|url=http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/|website=Indiana University, Bloomington|accessdate=25 April 2016}}</ref>

{{quote|Newton's fundamental contributions to science include the quantification of gravitational attraction, the discovery that white light is actually a mixture of immutable spectral colors, and the formulation of the calculus. Yet there is another, more mysterious side to Newton that is imperfectly known, a realm of activity that spanned some thirty years of his life, although he kept it largely hidden from his contemporaries and colleagues. We refer to Newton's involvement in the discipline of alchemy, or as it was often called in seventeenth-century England, "chymistry."<ref name="Indiana"/>}}

==Enlightenment philosophers==
[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] philosophers chose a short history of scientific predecessors&nbsp;– Galileo, Boyle, and Newton principally&nbsp;– as the guides and guarantors of their applications of the singular concept of [[nature]] and [[natural law]] to every physical and social field of the day. In this respect, the lessons of history and the social structures built upon it could be discarded.<ref>Cassels, Alan. Ideology and International Relations in the Modern World. p. 2.</ref>

It was Newton's conception of the universe based upon natural and rationally understandable laws that became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology.<ref>"Although it was just one of the many factors in the Enlightment, the success of Newtonian physics in providing a mathematical description of an ordered world clearly played a big part in the flowering of this movement in the eighteenth century" by John Gribbin,  ''Science: A History 1543–2001'' (2002), p. 241<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref> Locke and [[Voltaire]] applied concepts of natural law to political systems advocating intrinsic rights; the [[physiocrat]]s and [[Adam Smith]] applied natural conceptions of [[psychology]] and self-interest to economic systems; and [[sociology|sociologists]] criticised the current [[social order]] for trying to fit history into natural models of [[progress (history)|progress]]. [[Monboddo]] and [[Samuel Clarke]] resisted elements of Newton's work, but eventually rationalised it to conform with their strong religious views of nature.

==Apple incident==
{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|image1=Sapling of newton apple tree.jpg|image2=Newton's tree, Botanic Gardens, Cambridge.JPG|image3=Newtons apple.jpg|width=150|caption3=Reputed descendants of Newton's [[apple tree]] (from top to bottom) at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], the [[Cambridge University Botanic Garden]], and the [[Instituto Balseiro]] library garden}}
Newton himself often told the story that he was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree.{{sfn|White|1997|p=86}}<ref>{{Citation
 | last = Fara
 | first = Patricia
 | article=That the apple fell and Newton invented the law of gravity, thus removing God from the cosmos
 | editor-last1 = Numbers
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 | editor-last2 = Kampourakis
 | editor-first2 = Kostas
 | title = Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science
 | pages = 48–56
 | publisher = Harvard University Press
 | year = 2015
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pWouCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=newton's+apple+and+other+myths+about+science&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSkdPPiPrKAhVINSYKHZ5nAj8Q6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=newton's%20apple%20and%20other%20myths%20about%20science&f=false}}
</ref> Although it has been said that the apple story is a myth and that he did not arrive at his theory of gravity in any single moment,<ref name="Berkun2010"/> acquaintances of Newton (such as [[William Stukeley]], whose manuscript account of 1752 has been made available by the Royal Society) do in fact confirm the incident, though not the cartoon version that the apple actually hit Newton's head. Stukeley recorded in his ''Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life'' a conversation with Newton in Kensington on 15 April 1726:<ref name="Newton's apple: The real story"/><ref name="Hamblyn (2011)"/><ref name="NP">{{cite web|title=Revised Memoir of Newton (Normalized Version)|url=http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/OTHE00001|website=The Newton Project|accessdate=13 March 2017}}</ref>

{{Quotation|we went into the garden, & drank thea under the shade of some appletrees, only he, & myself. amidst other discourse, he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. "why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground," thought he to him self: occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a comtemplative mood: "why should it not go sideways, or upwards? but constantly to the earths centre? assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. there must be a drawing power in matter. & the sum of the drawing power in the matter of the earth must be in the earths center, not in any side of the earth. therefore dos this apple fall perpendicularly, or toward the center. if matter thus draws matter; it must be in proportion of its quantity. therefore the apple draws the earth, as well as the earth draws the apple."<!-- Please do not correct the spelling in this quotation, which is as per the cited source. -->}}

John Conduitt, Newton's assistant at the Royal Mint and husband of Newton's niece, also described the event when he wrote about Newton's life:<ref name="Keynes Ms. 130.4:Conduitt's account of Newton's life at Cambridge"/>

{{Quotation|In the year 1666 he retired again from Cambridge to his mother in Lincolnshire. Whilst he was pensively meandering in a garden it came into his thought that the power of gravity (which brought an apple from a tree to the ground) was not limited to a certain distance from earth, but that this power must extend much further than was usually thought. Why not as high as the Moon said he to himself & if so, that must influence her motion & perhaps retain her in her orbit, whereupon he fell a calculating what would be the effect of that supposition.}}

In similar terms, [[Voltaire]] wrote in his ''Essay on Epic Poetry'' (1727), "Sir Isaac Newton walking in his gardens, had the first thought of his system of gravitation, upon seeing an apple falling from a tree."

It is known from his notebooks that Newton was grappling in the late 1660s with the idea that terrestrial gravity extends, in an inverse-square proportion, to the Moon; however it took him two decades to develop the full-fledged theory.<ref>I. Bernard Cohen and George E. Smith, eds. ''The Cambridge Companion to Newton'' (2002) p. 6</ref> The question was not whether gravity existed, but whether it extended so far from Earth that it could also be the force holding the Moon to its orbit. Newton showed that if the force decreased as the inverse square of the distance, one could indeed calculate the Moon's orbital period, and get good agreement. He guessed the same force was responsible for other orbital motions, and hence named it "universal gravitation".

Various trees are claimed to be "the" apple tree which Newton describes. The King's School, Grantham, claims that the tree was purchased by the school, uprooted and transported to the headmaster's garden some years later. The staff of the (now) [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]]-owned [[Woolsthorpe Manor]] dispute this, and claim that a tree present in their gardens is the one described by Newton. A descendant of the original tree<ref>Alberto A. Martinez ''Science Secrets: The Truth about Darwin's Finches, Einstein's Wife, and Other Myths'', page 69 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011); {{isbn|978-0-8229-4407-2}}</ref> can be seen growing outside the main gate of Trinity College, Cambridge, below the room Newton lived in when he studied there. The National Fruit Collection at Brogdale<ref name="Brogdale—Home of the National Fruit Collection"/> can supply grafts from their tree, which appears identical to [[Flower of Kent]], a coarse-fleshed cooking variety.<ref name="From the National Fruit Collection: Isaac Newton's Tree"/>

==Works==
{{See also|Writing of Principia Mathematica}}

===Published in his lifetime===
* ''[[De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas]]'' (1669, published 1711)
* ''[[Method of Fluxions]]'' (1671)
* ''Of Natures Obvious Laws & Processes in Vegetation'' (unpublished, c. 1671–75)<ref>[http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/index.jsp Newton's alchemical works] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213020643/http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/index.jsp |date=13 December 2007 }} transcribed and online at [[Indiana University (Bloomington)|Indiana University]]. Retrieved 11 January 2007.</ref>
* ''[[De motu corporum in gyrum]]'' (1684)
* ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'' (1687)
* ''[[Opticks]]'' (1704)
* ''Reports as Master of the Mint'' (1701–25)
* ''[[Arithmetica Universalis]]'' (1707)

=== Published posthumously ===
* ''The System of the World'' (1728)
* ''Optical Lectures'' (1728)
* ''[[The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended]]'' (1728)
* ''De mundi systemate'' (1728)
* ''Observations on Daniel and The Apocalypse of St. John'' (1733)
* ''[[An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture]]'' (1754)

===Primary sources===
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* Newton, Isaac. ''The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.'' [[University of California Press]], (1999)
** Brackenridge, J. Bruce. ''The Key to Newton's Dynamics: The Kepler Problem and the Principia: Containing an English Translation of Sections 1, 2, and 3 of Book One from the First (1687) Edition of Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'', University of California Press (1996)
* Newton, Isaac. ''The Optical Papers of Isaac Newton. Vol. 1: The Optical Lectures, 1670–1672'', Cambridge University Press (1984)
** Newton, Isaac. ''Opticks'' (4th ed. 1730) [https://archive.org/details/opticksoratreat00newtgoog online edition]
** Newton, I. (1952). Opticks, or A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections & Colours of Light. New York: Dover Publications.
* Newton, I. ''Sir Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and His System of the World'', tr. A. Motte, rev. [[Florian Cajori]]. Berkeley: University of California Press (1934)
* {{cite book|author-link=Tom Whiteside|last=Whiteside|first=D.T.|title=The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1967–82|isbn=0-521-07740-0}}&nbsp;– 8 volumes.
* Newton, Isaac. ''The correspondence of Isaac Newton,'' ed. H.W. Turnbull and others, 7 vols (1959–77)
* ''Newton's Philosophy of Nature: Selections from His Writings'' edited by H.S. Thayer (1953; online edition)
* Isaac Newton, Sir; J Edleston; [[Roger Cotes]], ''Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Cotes, including letters of other eminent men'', London, John W. Parker, West Strand; Cambridge, John Deighton (1850, Google Books)
* Maclaurin, C. (1748). An Account of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophical Discoveries, in Four Books. London: A. Millar and J. Nourse
* Newton, I. (1958). Isaac Newton's Papers and Letters on Natural Philosophy and Related Documents, eds. I. B. Cohen and R. E. Schofield. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
* Newton, I. (1962). The Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton: A Selection from the Portsmouth Collection in the University Library, Cambridge, ed. A. R. Hall and M. B. Hall. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
* Newton, I. (1975). Isaac Newton's 'Theory of the Moon's Motion' (1702). London: Dawson
{{refend}}

==See also==
{{Wikipedia books|Isaac Newton}}
{{Div col||15em}}
* [[Ismaël Bullialdus]]
* [[De Motu (Berkeley's essay)]]
* ''[[Elements of the Philosophy of Newton]]''
* [[Newton series|Finite difference: Newton series]]
* [[Gauss–Newton algorithm]]
* [[Calculus]]
* [[History of calculus]]
* [[Glossary of calculus]]
* [[History of the telescope]]
* [[Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy]]
* [[List of multiple discoveries#17th century|List of multiple discoveries: seventeenth century]]
* [[List of things named after Isaac Newton]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name="Berkun2010">{{cite book|author-link=Scott Berkun|first=Scott|last=Berkun|title=The Myths of Innovation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPCgnc70MSgC&pg=PA4|date=27 August 2010|publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4493-8962-8|page=4}}</ref>

<ref name="Brogdale—Home of the National Fruit Collection">{{cite web|url=http://www.brogdale.org |title=Brogdale&nbsp;– Home of the National Fruit Collection |publisher=Brogdale.org |accessdate=20 December 2008 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201035839/http://www.brogdale.org/ |archivedate=1 December 2008 |df= }}</ref>

<ref name="Coat of arms of Isaac Newton">{{cite web|first=Gerard|last=Michon|url=http://www.numericana.com/arms/index.htm#newton |title=Coat of arms of Isaac Newton|publisher=Numericana.com|accessdate=16 January 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain">{{cite book|last=Haakonssen|first=Knud|editor=Martin Fitzpatrick ed.|chapter=The Enlightenment, politics and providence: some Scottish and English comparisons|title=Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|page=64|isbn=0-521-56060-8}}</ref>

<ref name="From the National Fruit Collection: Isaac Newton's Tree">{{cite web|url=http://www.brogdale.org.uk/image1.php?varietyid=1089 |title=From the National Fruit Collection: Isaac Newton's Tree |accessdate=10 January 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="Hamblyn (2011)">{{cite book|last=Hamblyn|first=Richard|date=2011|title=The Art of Science|publisher=[[Pan Macmillan]]|isbn=978-1-4472-0415-2|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xKFSqsDj0MC&pg=PT57|chapter=Newtonian Apples: William Stukeley}}</ref>

<ref name="Keynes Ms. 130.4:Conduitt's account of Newton's life at Cambridge">{{cite web|url=http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00167 |last=Conduitt|first=John |title=Keynes Ms. 130.4:Conduitt's account of Newton's life at Cambridge|work=Newtonproject|publisher=Imperial College London|accessdate=30 August 2006}}</ref>

<ref name="More">{{cite book|last=Westfall|first=Richard S.|origyear=1980|date=1983|title=Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-27435-7|pages=530–1}}</ref>

<ref name="Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter">{{cite journal|last=Dobbs|first=J.T.|date=December 1982|title=Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter|journal=Isis|volume=73|issue=4|page=523|doi=10.1086/353114}} quoting ''Opticks''</ref>

<ref name="Newton's apple: The real story">{{cite journal| journal=New Scientist|url=http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/01/newtons-apple-the-real-story.php|title=Newton's apple: The real story|date=18 January 2010|accessdate=10 May 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Newton, Isaac (1642–1727)">{{cite web|url=http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Newton.html|title=Newton, Isaac (1642–1727)|work=Eric Weisstein's World of Biography|accessdate=30 August 2006}}</ref>

<ref name="OPN1">{{cite journal |last=Duarte| first=F. J.| author-link=F. J. Duarte|date=2000|title=Newton, prisms, and the 'opticks' of tunable lasers|journal=Optics and Photonics News|volume=11|issue=5|pages=24–25|doi=10.1364/OPN.11.5.000024|bibcode=2000OptPN..11...24D|url=http://www.tunablelasers.com/F.J.DuarteOPN%282000%29.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name="OSNS">During Newton's lifetime, two calendars were in use in Europe: the [[Julian Calendar|Julian]] ("[[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]]") calendar in [[protestant]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] regions, including Britain; and the [[Gregorian Calendar|Gregorian]] ("[[Old Style and New Style dates|New Style]]") calendar in Roman Catholic Europe. At Newton's birth, Gregorian dates were ten days ahead of Julian dates: thus his birth is recorded as taking place on 25 December 1642 Old Style, but can be converted to a New Style (modern) date of 4 January 1643. By the time of his death, the difference between the calendars had increased to eleven days: moreover, he died in the period after the start of the New Style year on 1 January, but before that of the Old Style new year on 25 March. His death occurred on 20 March 1726 according to the Old Style calendar, but the year is usually adjusted to 1727. A full conversion to New Style gives the date 31 March 1727. See Thony, Christie (2015) Calendrical confusion or just when did Newton die?, The Renaissance Mathematicus, retrieved 20 March 2015 from https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/calendrical-confusion-or-just-when-did-newton-die/</ref>

<ref name="Papers Show Isaac Newton's Religious Side, Predict Date of Apocalypse">{{cite news|title=Papers Show Isaac Newton's Religious Side, Predict Date of Apocalypse |agency=Associated Press |date=19 June 2007 |url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070619/28049_Papers_Show_Isaac_Newton%27s_Religious_Side%2C_Predict_Date_of_Apocalypse.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813033620/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070619/28049_Papers_Show_Isaac_Newton%27s_Religious_Side%2C_Predict_Date_of_Apocalypse.htm |archivedate=13 August 2007 |accessdate=1 August 2007 |deadurl=yes |df= }}</ref>

<ref name="Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England">{{cite book|last=Westfall |first=Richard S. |date=1958 |title=Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |page=200 |isbn=0-208-00843-8|ref=harv}}</ref>

<!--ref name="Singular scientists">{{cite journal|last=James|first=Ioan|date=January 2003|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine|volume=96|issue=1|pages=36–39|pmc=539373|doi=10.1258/jrsm.96.1.36|pmid=12519805|title=Singular scientists}}</ref-->

<ref name="The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes Volume X">{{cite book|last=Keynes |first=John Maynard |date=1972 |chapter=Newton, The Man |title=The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes Volume X |publisher=MacMillan St. Martin's Press |pages=363–4}}</ref>

<ref name="The Early Period (1608–1672)">{{cite web|url=http://etoile.berkeley.edu/~jrg/TelescopeHistory/Early_Period.html |title=The Early Period (1608–1672) |accessdate=3 February 2009 |publisher=James R. Graham's Home Page }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="The Newtonians and the English Revolution: 1689–1720">{{cite book|last=Jacob|first=Margaret C.|date=1976|title=The Newtonians and the English Revolution: 1689–1720|publisher=Cornell University Press|pages=37, 44|isbn=0-85527-066-7}}</ref>

<ref name="Was Isaac Newton an Arian?">{{cite journal|last=Pfizenmaier|first=T.C.|date=1997|title=Was Isaac Newton an Arian? |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas|volume=58|issue=1|pages=57–80|doi=10.1353/jhi.1997.0001}}</ref>

<ref name="White 1997, p170">{{harvnb|White|1997|p=170}}</ref>

<ref name="bankofengland">{{cite web|url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/denom_guide/nonflash/1-SeriesD-Revised.htm|title=Withdrawn banknotes reference guide|publisher=Bank of England|accessdate=27 August 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=32IDpTdthm4C&pg=PA67|title=Isaac Newton: adventurer in thought|page=67|isbn=978-0-521-56669-8|last=Hall|first=Alfred Rupert|date=1996}}</ref>

<ref name="dulles">Avery Cardinal Dulles. [https://www.firstthings.com/article/2005/01/the-deist-minimum The Deist Minimum] (January 2005).</ref>

<ref name="hooke1679nov24">See 'Correspondence of Isaac Newton, vol. 2, 1676–1687' ed. H W Turnbull, Cambridge University Press 1960; at page 297, document No. 235, letter from Hooke to Newton dated 24 November 1679.</ref>

<ref name="royalsoc.ac.uk">{{cite web|title=Newton beats Einstein in polls of Royal Society scientists and the public |work=The Royal Society |url=http://royalsociety.org/News.aspx?id=1324&terms=Newton+beats+Einstein+in+polls+of+scientists+and+the+public}}</ref>

<ref name="tiner">{{cite book|last=Tiner |first=J.H. |date=1975 |title=Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher |publisher=Mott Media |location=Milford, Michigan, U.S. |isbn=0-915134-95-0}}</ref>

<ref name="wmabbey">{{cite web|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/sir-isaac-newton|title=Famous People & the Abbey: Sir Isaac Newton|publisher=Westminster Abbey|accessdate=13 November 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Whittaker">[[E. T. Whittaker|Whittaker, E. T.]], ''A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity'', Dublin University Press, 1910.</ref>}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|last=Ball|first=W.W. Rouse|title=A Short Account of the History of Mathematics|location=New York|publisher=Dover|date=1908|isbn=0-486-20630-0|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Christianson|first=Gale|title=In the Presence of the Creator: Isaac Newton & His Times|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|date=1984|isbn=0-02-905190-8}} This well documented work provides, in particular, valuable information regarding Newton's knowledge of [[Patristics]]
* {{cite journal|last=Craig|first=John|title=Isaac Newton&nbsp;– Crime Investigator|journal=Nature|date=1958|volume=182|issue=4629|pages=149–52|doi=10.1038/182149a0|bibcode=1958Natur.182..149C}}
* {{cite journal|last=Craig|first=John|title=Isaac Newton and the Counterfeiters|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London |volume=18|issue=2|date=1963|pages=136–45|doi=10.1098/rsnr.1963.0017}}
* {{cite book|last=Levenson|first=Thomas|title= Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist|publisher=Mariner Books|date=2010|isbn=978-0-547-33604-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Manuel|first=Frank E|title=A Portrait of Isaac Newton|date=1968|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Stewart|first=James|title=Calculus: Concepts and Contexts|publisher=Cengage Learning|date=2009|isbn=978-0-495-55742-5|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Richard S. Westfall|last=Westfall|first=Richard S.|title=Never at Rest|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1980|isbn=0-521-27435-4|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Westfall|first=Richard S.|title=Isaac Newton|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2007|isbn=978-0-19-921355-9|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Westfall|first=Richard S.|title=The Life of Isaac Newton|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1994|isbn=0-521-47737-9|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Michael White (author)|title=Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer|first=Michael|last=White|publisher=Fourth Estate Limited|date=1997|isbn=1-85702-416-8|ref=harv}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book|last=Andrade|first=E.N.De C.|title=Isaac Newton|publisher=Chanticleer Press|location=New York|date=1950|isbn=0-8414-3014-4}}
* Bardi, Jason Socrates. ''The Calculus Wars: Newton, Leibniz, and the Greatest Mathematical Clash of All Time'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1560259922 excerpt and text search]
* {{cite book|last=Bechler|first=Zev|title=Newton's Physics and the Conceptual Structure of the Scientific Revolution|date=1991|publisher=Springer|isbn=0-7923-1054-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Bechler|first=Zev|title=Contemporary Newtonian Research (Studies in the History of Modern Science)(Volume 9)|date=2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-9400977174}}
* Berlinski, David. ''Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World.'' (2000); {{isbn|0-684-84392-7}}
* Buchwald, Jed Z. and Cohen, I. Bernard (eds.) ''Isaac Newton's Natural Philosophy'', [[MIT Press]] (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0262524252  excerpt and text search]
* {{cite journal|last=Casini|first= P|title=Newton's Principia and the Philosophers of the Enlightenment|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London|date=1988|volume=42|issue=1|pages=35–52|issn=0035-9149|doi=10.1098/rsnr.1988.0006|jstor=531368}}
* {{cite book|last=Christianson|first=Gale E.|title=Isaac Newton and the Scientific Revolution|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=1996|isbn=0-19-530070-X}} See [http://www.amazon.com/dp/019530070X this site] for excerpt and text search.
* {{cite book|last=Christianson|first=Gale|title=In the Presence of the Creator: Isaac Newton & His Times|location=New York|publisher=Free Press|date=1984|isbn=0-02-905190-8}}
* Cohen, I. Bernard and Smith, George E., ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Newton.'' (2002). 500 pp. focuses on philosophical issues only; [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0521656966 excerpt and text search]; [http://www.questia.com/read/105054986 complete edition online]
* {{cite book|last=Cohen|first=I.B.|title=The Newtonian Revolution|date=1980|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-22964-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Craig|first=John|title=Newton at the Mint|date=1946|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England}}
* {{cite book|last=Dampier|first=William C.|last2=Dampier|first2=M.|title=Readings in the Literature of Science|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York|date=1959|isbn=0-486-42805-2}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Richard de Villamil|last=de Villamil|first= Richard|title=Newton, the Man|publisher=G.D. Knox|location=London, UK|date=1931}}&nbsp;– Preface by Albert Einstein. Reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, New York (1972)
* {{cite book|last=Dobbs|first=B.J.T.|title=The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy or "The Hunting of the Greene Lyon"|date=1975|publisher=Cambridge University Press|place=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book|last=Gjertsen|first=Derek|title=The Newton Handbook|publisher=Routledge|location=London, UK|date=1986|isbn=0-7102-0279-2|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Gleick|first= James|title=Isaac Newton|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|date=2003|isbn=0-375-42233-1}}
* {{cite journal|last=Halley|first=E.|title=Review of Newton's Principia|date=1687|journal=Philosophical Transactions|volume=186|pages=291–97}}
* [[Stephen Hawking|Hawking, Stephen]], ed. ''On the Shoulders of Giants''. {{isbn|0-7624-1348-4}} Places selections from Newton's ''Principia'' in the context of selected writings by Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Einstein
* {{cite book|last=Herivel|first= J. W.|title=The Background to Newton's Principia. A Study of Newton's Dynamical Researches in the Years 1664–84|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford|date=1965 }}
* {{cite book|author-link=John Maynard Keynes|last=Keynes|first= John Maynard |title=Essays in Biography |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co |date=1963 |isbn=0-393-00189-X}} Keynes took a close interest in Newton and owned many of Newton's private papers.
* {{cite book|last=Koyré|first= A |title=Newtonian Studies|location=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=1965}}
* Newton, Isaac. ''Papers and Letters in Natural Philosophy'', edited by [[I. Bernard Cohen]]. [[Harvard University Press]], 1958, 1978; {{isbn|0-674-46853-8}}.
* Newton, Isaac (1642–1727). ''The Principia'': a new Translation, Guide by I. Bernard Cohen; {{isbn|0-520-08817-4}}, University of California (1999)
* {{cite book|last=Pemberton|first=H.|title=A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy|publisher=S. Palmer|location=London, UK|date=1728}}
* {{cite book|last=Shamos|first= Morris H. |title=Great Experiments in Physics |location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt and Company, Inc. |date=1959 |isbn=0-486-25346-5 }}
* Shapley, Harlow, S. Rapport, and H. Wright. ''A Treasury of Science''; "Newtonia" pp.&nbsp;147–9; "Discoveries" pp.&nbsp;150–4. Harper & Bros., New York, (1946).
* {{cite book|last=Simmons|first=J|title=The Giant Book of Scientists – The 100 Greatest Minds of all Time|location=Sydney|publisher=The Book Company|date=1996}}
* {{cite book|last=Stukeley|first=W.|title=Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life|publisher=Taylor and Francis|place=London, UK|date=1936}} (edited by A.H. White; originally published in 1752)
* {{cite book|last=Westfall|first=R.S.|title=Force in Newton's Physics: The Science of Dynamics in the Seventeenth Century|location=London, UK|publisher=Macdonald|date=1971|isbn=0-444-19611-0}}
{{refend}}

'''Religion'''
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* Dobbs, Betty Jo Tetter. ''The Janus Faces of Genius: The Role of Alchemy in Newton's Thought.'' (1991), links the alchemy to Arianism
* Force, James E., and Richard H. Popkin, eds. ''Newton and Religion: Context, Nature, and Influence.'' (1999), pp. xvii, 325; 13 papers by scholars using newly opened manuscripts
* {{cite journal|last1=Pfizenmaier|first1=Thomas C.|date=January 1997|title = Was Isaac Newton an Arian?|jstor=3653988|journal=Journal of the History of Ideas | volume = 58|issue=1|pages=57–80|doi=10.1353/jhi.1997.0001}}
* Ramati, Ayval. "The Hidden Truth of Creation: Newton's Method of Fluxions" ''British Journal for the History of Science'' 34: 417–38. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4028372 in JSTOR], argues that his calculus had a theological basis
* Snobelen, Stephen "'God of Gods, and Lord of Lords': The Theology of Isaac Newton's General Scholium to the Principia", ''Osiris'' 2nd series, Vol. 16, (2001), pp.&nbsp;169–208 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/301985 in JSTOR]
* {{cite journal|last1=Snobelen|first1=Stephen D.|title=Isaac Newton, Heretic: The Strategies of a Nicodemite|jstor=4027945|journal=British Journal for the History of Science|volume=32|pages=381–419|doi=10.1017/S0007087499003751|date=1999|issue=4}}
* Wiles, Maurice. ''Archetypal Heresy. Arianism through the Centuries.'' (1996) 214 pages, with chapter 4 on eighteenth century England; pp.&nbsp;77–93 on Newton, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DGksMzk37hMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Arianism+through+the+Centuries%22 excerpt and text search].
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Isaac_Newton.ogg|2008-07-30}}
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Isaac Newton|wikt=no|n=no|b=Introduction to Astrophysics/Historical Context/Isaac Newton}}
* {{librivox author|Isaac+Newton}}
* {{GoogleScholar|id=xJaxiEEAAAAJ}}
* [http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Newton.html ScienceWorld biography] by [[Eric Weisstein]]
* [http://www.chlt.org/sandbox/lhl/dsb/page.50.a.php Dictionary of Scientific Biography]
* [http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/prism.php?id=1 "The Newton Project"]
* [http://www.isaacnewton.ca/ "The Newton Project – Canada"]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/newton/ "Newton's Dark Secrets"] – [[Nova (TV series)|NOVA]] TV programme
* from ''The [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]:''
** [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton/ "Isaac Newton"], by George Smith
** [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton-principia/ "Newton's ''Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica''"], by George Smith
** [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton-philosophy/ "Newton's Philosophy"], by Andrew Janiak
** [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton-stm/ "Newton's views on space, time, and motion"], by Robert Rynasiewicz
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060207225233/http://tqnyc.org/NYC051308/index.htm "Newton's Castle"] – educational material
* [http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/newton "The Chymistry of Isaac Newton"], research on his alchemical writings
* [http://hss.fullerton.edu/philosophy/GeneralScholium.htm The "General Scholium" to Newton's ''Principia'']{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* Kandaswamy, Anand M. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081007101707/http://www.math.rutgers.edu/courses/436/Honors02/newton.html "''The Newton/Leibniz Conflict in Context''"]
* [http://www.phaser.com/modules/historic/newton/index.html Newton's First ODE]&nbsp;– A study by on how Newton approximated the solutions of a first-order ODE using infinite series
* {{MathGenealogy|id=74313}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061213222519/http://www.ltrc.mcmaster.ca/newton/ "The Mind of Isaac Newton"] – images, audio, animations and interactive segments
* [http://www.enlighteningscience.sussex.ac.uk/home Enlightening Science] Videos on Newton's biography, optics, physics, reception, and on his views on science and religion
* [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Newton.html Newton biography (University of St Andrews)]
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Newton, Sir Isaac |volume=19 |page=583–592 |short=x}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{NPG name|name=Sir Isaac Newton}}
* The [[Linda Hall Library]] has digitized [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/search/searchterm/Canon%20Chronicus%20Aegyptiacus/field/title/mode/exact/conn/and/order/nosort Two copies of John Marsham's (1676) ''Canon Chronicus Aegyptiacus''], one of which was [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/philsci/id/139 owned by Isaac Newton], who marked salient passages by dog-earing the pages so that the corners acted as arrows. The books can be compared side-by-side to show what interested Newton.

'''Writings by Newton'''
* [http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/prism.php?id=43 Newton's works – full texts, at the Newton Project]
* [http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/Humanities/Pages/newton.aspx The Newton Manuscripts at the National Library of Israel – the collection of all his religious writings]
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Newton,+Isaac,+Sir | name=Isaac Newton}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Isaac Newton}}
* {{Librivox author |id=2836}}
* [http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/ ''Descartes, Space, and Body'' and ''A New Theory of Light and Colour''], modernised readable versions by Jonathan Bennett
* [https://archive.org/stream/opticksoratreat00newtgoog#page/n6/mode/2up ''Opticks, or a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light''], full text on [[archive.org]]
* [http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton "Newton Papers"] – Cambridge Digital Library
* (1686) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/15635 "A letter of Mr. Isaac Newton... containing his new theory about light and colors"], ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'', Vol. XVI, No. 179, pp.&nbsp;3057–3087. – digital facsimile at the [[Linda Hall Library]]
* (1704) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/3080 ''Opticks''] – digital facsimile at the [[Linda Hall Library]]
* (1719) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/33634 ''Optice''] – digital facsimile at the [[Linda Hall Library]]
* (1729) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/35921 ''Lectiones opticae''] – digital facsimile at the [[Linda Hall Library]]
* (1749) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/35293 ''Optices libri tres''] – digital facsimile at the [[Linda Hall Library]]

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