Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day 1642, according to the calendar which was used in England at that time, or, according to the modern calendar, 4th January, 1643. His father was a wealthy farmer in the north of England, and the owner of a large estate which included the family home, called Woolsthorpe. Unfortunately, his father had died several months before Newton was born, so he never knew him. When he was two, his mother married again and moved to another village, leaving him behind to be brought up by his grandmother.
When his stepfather died some years later, Newton's mother returned to Woolsthorpe, together with the three children from her second marriage. Even though Newton's family was wealthy, his mother did not want him to go to school. Instead, she wanted him to learn to be a farmer and to take care of the family's estate. Newton did not like farming and was not very good at it. Eventually, he was allowed to return to school and then to attend university, although he had to work to earn money to cover at least some of his expenses.
Despite the fact that Newton was studying Law at Cambridge, where the ideas of Aristotle were greatly respected, he became more interested in modern philosophers like Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes and Robert Boyle and also explored the ideas of Nicolas Copernicus, Galileo and Johannes Kepler. At some point, he became interested in mathematics, including the work of Euclid and Descartes, which eventually resulted in Newton's invention of calculus. In the field of optics, he made important discoveries about light and colour theory, as well as building the first reflecting telescope. He was also involved in alchemy, religion and, of course, physics, where his discovery of the laws of planetary motion and gravity were great advances and also served as the basis for later work, such as Albert Einstein's. He was also interested in politics, serving as a Member of Parliament and in other governmental positions.
Throughout his life, Newton was a fragile, sensitive person, who did not take well to criticism. In fact, he often delayed publishing his work because he was afraid of being criticised, which led to many problems later on. He suffered two nervous breakdowns and finally stopped doing research. However, he remained active by working for the government as Warden, and later Master, of the Royal Mint, where his efforts produced important results. He was made a knight by Queen Anne in 1705.
Newton died on 20th March, 1727. The epitaph for his tomb, which is in London's Westminster Abbey, was written by the poet, Alexander Pope:
Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said 'Let Newton be!' and all was light.