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English scientist and mathematician Isaac Newton's (1642-1727) discoveries were prolific and exerted a huge influence on science and thought. - Print Collector/Hulton Archive/Getty Images" width="300" height="388" class="" data-description="Sir Isaac Newton, Genius at Math and Astronomy"> <a href="#" data-component="contentFlexArticle" data-source="pinitBtn" data-type="sharePinterest" data-ordinal="1" data-pin-media="http://f.tqn.com/y/space/1/L/D/a/1/463916487.jpg" data-pin-url="http://space.about.com/cs/astronomyhistory/a/isaacnewtonbio.htm?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons_nip" data-pin-custom="true" data-pin-description="Sir Isaac Newton, Genius at Math and Astronomy" data-network="pinterest" title="Pin to Pinterest" class="pinit-btn" data-pin-do="skipLink"></a> </div> </div> <figcaption class="content-img-subtitle"> <div class="content-img-caption"> <span class="credit pull-right">Print Collector/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</span> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="published"> Updated <span itemprop="dateModified">August 23, 2016</span>. </div> <p>It was almost like handing over the reins from one astronomer to another. In 1642, in the space of just eleven months, astronomer聽<a data-inlink="JswgTLspXQP5jBFcLjxZ_g==" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161014130126/http://space.about.com/cs/astronomerbios/a/galileobio_2.htm" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">Galileo Galilei</a> died at Arcetri, near Florence, on January 8, 1642. More than nine hundred miles away, Hannah Newton gave birth to a premature baby boy on Christmas day in Lincolnshire, England. Named after his late father, Isaac (who died just three months shy of his son鈥檚 birth), the baby was quite small and not expected to live.</p> <p class="cb-split"> It was an inauspicious beginning for one of the great minds of math and science.聽</p><h3>Becoming Newton</h3><p>Young聽Sir Isaac Newton did survive, and at聽the age of thirteen, he聽left to attend grammar school in Grantham. Taking up lodging with the local apothecary, he was fascinated by chemicals. His mother wanted him to become a farmer, but Newton had other ideas.</p> <div id="inArticleVideo_1-0" class="comp inArticleVideo inArticleVideoPlaceHolder videoPlaceholder"> <figure class="video-placeholder parent-bg group large"> <span class="close"></span> <p>continue reading below our video <span></span></p> <figcaption class="group"> <p class="pull-left">What are the Seven Wonders of the World</p> </figcaption> <div id="inArticlePlayer_1-0" class="comp inArticlePlayer video-player mntl-video-player" data-player="418de2d8-bf4b-4b9b-8551-f1ece21973b0" data-account="4013" data-video-id="ref:create_127916_title1"> <video data-embed="default" data-video-url="http://ancienthistory.about.com/video/What-are-the-Seven-Wonders-of-the-World.htm" data-ref-id="create_127916_title1" data-frequency-capping="true" data-pause-on-scroll="true" data-volume="4" data-direct-ad-ids="288415327,1grqmf,1grqme,1grqmg,1grafp,1grafn,1grafm,1grafo,1h5r7a,306498723,306501520,306497573,306501519,1h6iho,moat_ad,1273229,299022128,300234477,1273226,299176595,1273227,1273228,1hd3kg,1273230,e9RvM8KWX3lt5o5loocr,0,1hemer,349617894,IntegralAds,342509574,359750694,363636294,349618014,16284097,300771921,1h0pbj,1h0pbi,IntegralAds,1h5r7a,1h5fpr,1h5fpt,1h5fps,307871072,1473876332.1952.17972,1iou9m" data-range-to-play="40" data-disable-preload="false" data-disable-autoplay="false" data-plugins="ga" class="video-js" controls> </video> <div class="loc loadingIcon"> <span id="loading-icon_1-0" class="comp loading-icon"> <div class="spinner"> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div></div> </div> </div> </span> </div> </div> </figure> </div> <p class="cb-split"> His uncle was a clergyman who had studied at Cambridge. He persuaded his sister that Isaac should attend the university, so in 1661 the young man went to Trinity College, Cambridge. During his first three years, Isaac paid his tuition by waiting tables and cleaning rooms.</p><p>Eventually, he was honored by being elected a scholar, which guaranteed four years of financial support. Before he could benefit, however, the university closed in the summer of 1665 when the plague began its merciless spread across Europe. Returning home, Newton spent the next two years in self-study of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161014130126/http://space.about.com/od/astronomybasics/a/Astronomy.htm" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="2">astronomy,</a> mathematics, and the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161014130126/http://space.about.com/od/astronomybasics/a/AstronomyAstrophysicsAstrology.htm" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="3">applications of physics to astronomy</a>, and spent his career developing his famous <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161014130126/http://physics.about.com/od/classicalmechanics/a/lawsofmotion.htm" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="4">three laws of motion.</a></p> <p class="cb-split"></p><p>A legend of history has it that while sitting in his garden in Woolsthorpe in 1666, an apple fell on Newton's head, producing his theories of universal gravitation. While the story is popular, and certainly has charm, it is more likely that these ideas were the work of many years of study and thought.</p> <div class="video-radlinks"> <div id="radlinks3" data-num-links="5" data-character-limit="null" data-display-label="true" data-display-inline="true" class="radlinks ads-half"></div> </div> <p class="cb-split"> He worked with <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161014130126/http://space.about.com/cs/astronomerbios/a/edmundhalley.htm" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="5">Edmund Halley,</a> who helped Newton publish his famous work, <em>Principia Mathematica.</em> Newton died in March 1626.</p> </article> <div class="append-amz-shop"> </div> <div class="widget page-btns-wrapper"> <div class="page-btns group"> <div class="col pull-left"> <span class="btn prev disabled btn-light"> Prev </span> </div> <div class="col pull-right"> <a 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