Person    | Male  Born 4/1/1643  Died 31/3/1727

Sir Isaac Newton

Categories: Science, Seriously Famous

Born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, on Christmas day, according to the calendar in use at the time. Died in Kensington (where he had gone in search of country air). The exact dates of birth and death vary from source to source. Buried Westminster Abbey.

He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1660. He propounded the laws of motion, universal gravitation, optics and the basis of differential calculus. He was Master of the Mint from 1699 - 1727, President of the Royal Society from 1703 - 26 and was knighted in 1705. Used to feature on the £1 note.

It is sometimes said that he lived in Leicester Square, but he actually lived nearby at 35 St. Martin's Street.

It is also said that Newton was practically an agelast, as Maths pages tells us: Isaac Newton's assistant at Cambridge claimed that during five years he saw Newton laugh only once. Newton had loaned a copy of Euclid {geometry} to an acquaintance, and the gentleman asked what use it was to study Euclid, "upon which Sir Isaac was very merry".

It's said that Newton loved animals and invented the cat-flap. Despite this, Newton may not have been a very nice man - he enjoyed witnessing the executions of the counterfeiters he pursued as part of his job at the Mint, and he had a major falling out with Robert Hooke, not speaking to him for the rest of his life. He fought a vicious feud with Leibniz over who invented the calculus. Newton's allegation that Leibniz had stolen his ideas was aggressive and destructive. It is now accepted that Newton wrote down the calculus first and Leibniz was the first to publish, while most schoolboys wish it had never been invented at all.

Buried in Westminster Abbey.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Isaac Newton

Commemorated ati

British Library - Newton

Bronze, 12 foot high (and he's sitting down).  Via Facebook Henri Hudson has ...

Read More

City of London School 4 - Newton

{On the statue's plinth:} Newton

Read More

Isaac Newton bust

All four of the Leicester Square busts were removed in the 2010-12 redesign, ...

Read More

Show all 10

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Sir Isaac Newton

Creations i

St Stephen's School - Boys entrance

The two S's probably indicate 'St Stephen's'.

Read More

Other Subjects

Sir Charles Wheatstone

Sir Charles Wheatstone

Born at Barnwood Manor House, Barnwood, near Gloucester. Knighted 30 Jan. 1868. Died Paris. Inventor of things such as the English concertina and the stereoscope but best known for the Wheatstone b...

Person, Science, France

2 memorials
Professor Sir Christopher Ingold

Professor Sir Christopher Ingold

Chemist. One of chief pioneers of physical organic chemistry. Born 142 Windsor Road, Forest Gate. Brought up on the Isle of Wight. Working in the Chemistry department, University College London, du...

Person, Science

1 memorial
compound steam turbine

compound steam turbine

Invented by Sir Charles Parsons.

Concept, Science

1 memorial
William Shipley

William Shipley

Drawing master, social reformer and inventor. Wikipedia's page differs significantly from the Oxford Dictionary of National Bigraphy. They agree that he was born in Kent and trained as a painter. H...

Person, Art, Science

1 memorial
Sir Bernard Katz

Sir Bernard Katz

Biophysicist and physician. Born in Leipzig. He came to Britain in 1935 and worked at the University College London (UCL). In 1938 he went to study at the Sydney Medical School. He joined the Royal...

Person, Medicine, Science, Australia, Germany

1 memorial