Sir Isaac Newton was a revolutionary, brilliant mathematician and scientist. While studing at the university, he managed to write the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, a "scientists bible."

      Newton was not considered an amiable man for some time. Scientists found themselves in heated debate with him very often. However, as Newtonian science became increasingly accepted, Newton became the most highly esteemed natural philosopher in Europe. His last decades were passed in revising his major works, polishing his studies of ancient history, and defending himself against critics, as well as carrying out his official duties as a politician. Newton was modest, diffident, and a man of simple tastes. In government, and at the Royal Society, he proved an able administrator. He never married and lived modestly, but was buried with great pomp in Westminster Abbey.

      Newton has been regarded for almost 300 years as the founding examplar of modern physical science, his achievements in experimental investigation being as innovative as those in mathematical research. With equal, if not greater, energy and originality he also plunged into chemistry, the early history of Western civilization, and theology; among his special studies was an investigation of the form and dimensions, as described in the Bible, of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. Newton also discovered measurable, mathematical patterns in the phenomenon of colour. He found white light to be a mixture of infinitely varied colored rays.

      Newton is especially famous for his solutions to the contemporary problems in analytical geometry of drawing tangents to curves (differentiation) and defining areas bounded by curves (integration). Soon, Newton would cause commotion about the true inventor of calculus. Leibniz, another mathematician, had written already some of Newton's ideas, and he had acquired a substantial following. Leibniz supporters said he invented calculus while Newton's followers thought he invented calculus, both sides having various reasons and rumors. A violent dispute sprang up with Leibniz supporters towards Newton's theory of gravitation and his ideas about God and creation; it was not ended even by Leibniz's death in 1716. The dispute delayed the reception of Newtonian science on the Continent, and dissuaded British mathematicians from sharing the researches of Continental colleagues for a century.

      The Principia had many implications for the natural world. Book I of the Principia states the foundations of the science of mechanics, developing upon them the mathematics of orbital motion round centres of force. Newton identified gravitation as the fundamental force controlling the motions of the celestial bodies. Book II inaugurates the theory of fluids: Newton solves problems of fluids in movement and of motion through fluids. From the density of air he calculated the speed of sound waves. Book III shows the law of gravitation at work in the universe: Newton demonstrates it from the revolutions of the six known planets, including the Earth, and their satellites.

      Newton's work in mechanics was accepted at once in Britain, and universally after half a century. Since then it has been ranked among humanity's greatest achievements in abstract thought. Most of this condensed biography came from the Isaac Newton Institute For Mathematical Sciences website. Visit there for more information on Isaac Newton.