In addition to his work on calculus, as a mathematician, Newton contributed to the study of power series, generalized the binomial theorem to non-integer exponents, developed a method for approximating the roots of function, and classified most of the cubic plane curves.ĩ. He formulated an empirical law of cooling, made the first theoretical calculation of the speed of sound, and introduced the notion of a Newtonian fluid.Ĩ. His work on light was collected in his highly influential book Opticks, which was first published in 1704.ħ.
Newton built the first practical reflection telescope and developed a sophisticated theory of color based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into the colors of the visible spectrum.Ħ. Newton’s theoretical prediction that the Earth is shaped as an oblate spheroid was later vindicated by the geodetic measurements of Maupertuis, La Condamine, and other, therefore, convincing most Continental European scientists of the superiority of Newtonian mechanics over the earlier system of Descartes.ĥ. By deriving Kepler’s laws of planetary motion from his mathematical description of gravity, and using the same principles to account for the trajectories of comets, the tides, the procession of the equinoxes and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of the heliocentric model of the Solar System.Ĥ. Newton’s Principia formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation that dominated scientists’ view of the physical universe for the next three centuries.ģ. Newton made groundbreaking contributions to optics, and he shares credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for developing the infinitesimal calculus.Ģ. Take a look below for 30 more awesome and interesting facts about Isaac Newton.ġ. His book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, first published in 1687, laid the foundations of classical mechanics. Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, astronomer, theologian, author and physicist who is widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time, and a key figure in the scientific revolution.