Isaac Newton’s inspiration for his law of universal gravitation came from an apple falling on his head. In 2010, a piece of the tree and an image of Newton were taken into orbit. The original tree still stands and produces apples. Most of us heard the story in elementary school: A young Isaac Newton is […]
Newton’s rings occur when a convex lens is in contact with a flat glass, creating concentric circles due to interference between reflected light waves. The phenomenon can be used to determine the quality of a lens. Newton observed the rings in 1675 and believed they supported his particle theory of light, although they are now […]
Isaac Newton was Warden of the Royal Mint and a Lucasian professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge. His most notable work was Principia, which included his laws of motion and universal gravitation. Newton’s birthday was December 25, 1642, according to the Julian calendar, but became January 4, 1643, after England adopted the Gregorian […]
