The Scientific Revolution

Sir Isaac Newton, 1642-1727

Newton was an Englishman. He was accomplished in many fields, and his formulation of the law of gravity was only one of them. He was a brilliant mathemetician in his early life -- he invented calculus in order to solve certain problems he was working on. He did revolutionary work in optics, and wrote many volumes of theological works.

Newton spent most of his career as a professor at Cambridge. He was quiet, but strong-willed, capable of carrying on a lifelong rivalry with Leibniz. He became a national hero, the English champion over against the French hero, Descartes.

History of Western Civilization

E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University

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