Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Isaac Newton was one of the greatest scientists who ever lived. He was a mathematician and physicist. Many theories of modern science are based on the laws that he discovered.
Newton was born in Woolsthorpe in England. In 1669, at the age of 27 he became professor of Mathematics. In 1686 he published his famous book 'The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy' in which he presented his theory of gravitation and the laws of motion. His theory of gravitation says that all matter pulls all other matter towards itself. Newton studied moving objects and gave the famous laws of motion.
Newton studied light and realized that 'white light' (for example sunlight) is a mixture of light of different colours. When sunlight falls on water droplets in the air, it splits into separate colours. This is how a rainbow is formed.
Newton invented the mirror telescope, which overcame some defects of telescopes in use at that time. Many of our present-day telescopes are based on his design.
Newton, along with another mathematician Leibniz, is considered to be the father of a very important branch of mathematics called calculus. One of Newton's greatest qualities as a human being was that he was very modest about his achievements.

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