Isaac Newton was born on 25 December 1642 in Woolsthorpe Manor. An English mathematician and physicist, Newton is one of the most influential scientists in history. His Principia, published in 1687, set out the three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation, which explained the orbits of the planets and the tides with the same mathematics. He developed calculus, which he also discovered independently of Leibniz, leading to a bitter priority dispute, and he made major contributions to optics, including the study of white light and the design of a reflecting telescope. He was a professor at Cambridge, later Master of the Royal Mint and president of the Royal Society.
Before and after
- from 1642 to 1646First English Civil War
- from 1642 to 1651English Civil War
- 1642Invention of Pascal's calculator
- 8 January 1642Death of Galileo Galilei
- 25 December 1642Birth of Isaac Newton
- 1643Barometer
- from 23 February 1643 to 30 August 1645Kieft's War
- 1644Birth of Matsuo Bashō
- June 1644The Manchus take Beijing and found Qing rule
More in Science & technology
- 1543De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
- 21 June 1646Birth of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- October 1684Leibniz publishes the first paper on calculus
- 15 April 1707Birth of Leonhard Euler
- 20 March 1727Death of Isaac Newton
- 28 August 1749Birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 17th century.