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

Isaac Newton, 25 December 1642 - 20 March 1727, scientist, mathematician, phi...

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

A. V. Hill

A. V. Hill

Physiologist. Born Archibald Vivian Hill in Bristol. One of the founders of the disciplines of biophysics and operations research he shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his el...

Person, Science

1 memorial
James Maxwell

James Maxwell

Developed the electromagnetic theory, unifying previous unrelated results. Born Edinburgh. Professor of Natural Philosophy at King's College London, 1860 - 65. Died Cambridge. Buried near Castle Do...

Person, Science, Scotland

2 memorials
A. W. Hofmann

A. W. Hofmann

August Wilhelm von Hofmann was born on 8 April 1818 in Giessen, Grand Duchy of Hesse, now known as Germany. Our picture source and his Wikipedia page give a full biography of his life. In 1854 Ho...

Person, Science, Germany

2 memorials
Charles 3rd Earl Stanhope

Charles 3rd Earl Stanhope

Politician and scientist. Born in London and educated at Eton and the University of Geneva, Switzerland. A brief browse on the web brought up Stanhope's name in association with inventions in the f...

Person, Politics & Administration, Science

1 memorial
Roger Bacon

Roger Bacon

Philosopher and Franciscan friar.  Born Somerset.  An early proponent of the modern scientific method.  He studied at Oxford where there is a statue.

Person, Religion, Science

1 memorial

Previously viewed

F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas

F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas

Wing Commander, GC, secret agent in WW2, codename "The White Rabbit". Born 45 Balcombe Street. Brought up in France. Served in WW1. Served in WW2 initially in the RAF but then in February 1942 he j...

Person, Armed Forces, France

War served, WW2
1 memorial
Charles E Lambert

Charles E Lambert

Rector of St James's, Piccadilly, Nov.1922 - April 1954.

Person, Religion

1 memorial
Chiltern Railways

Chiltern Railways

A train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains. It operates commuter/regional services from its Central London terminus at London Marylebone along the M40 corridor, as well as long distance se...

Group, Transport

1 memorial
Newby's ice store

Newby's ice store

Newby's ice store stood on the north bank of the canal in the 1860s. Ice was used to keep food fresh for transport, and in shops. Imported mainly from Norway, it was delivered along the canal by ho...

Building, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Odeon Southgate

Odeon Southgate

It closed as an Odeon in 1972 and was taken over by an independent distributor. It re-opened as the Capitol in 1975, closing in 1981. Demolished to make way for the Hobart Court office block. 2025...

Place, Cinema

1 memorial