[Music]
a list of the most influential people of
all time
wouldn't be complete without sir isaac
newton newton's laws are tied to almost
everything we see
in everyday life they help us understand
how cars work
how baseballs move how anything moves
yet there was a secret side to the 17th
century scientist
which will become clear by the end of
this story
by his mid-20s newton had already
invented calculus
not bad for the son of an illiterate
farmer he would never meet his father
who died three months before his birth
on christmas day 1642
in the small english village of
woolsthorpe manor in the county of
lincolnshire
he was a premature baby and so small he
was later told he could fit inside a
court mug
he barely survived when newton was three
his mom remarried and moved to a nearby
village to live with a wealthy clergyman
newton was left behind in the care of
his grandparents
that abandonment scarred him years later
he wrote a list of his sins
recalling an outburst from childhood
threatening my father and mother smith
to burn them
and the house over them he was a curious
child
more interested in mechanics than making
friends he carved this sundial as a
nine-year-old
when he was 12 he enrolled at a local
grammar school
his signature can still be seen by a
windowsill of the king's school today
after the death of his step-dad his
mother tried to remove him from school
so he could be a farmer a prospect that
he dreaded
luckily the school master convinced his
mother to send him back to class
where he gained the knowledge necessary
to enter the university of cambridge
in 1661 paying his way by working as a
valet
although he studied the works of the
ancient greek philosophers
he questioned their theories writing in
his notebook in latin
plato is my friend aristotle is my
friend but my best friend
is truth he vowed to find the truth
through rigorous
scientific experimentation his time as
an undergrad was unremarkable but the
extraordinary circumstances that
happened next
would set the stage for his greatest
achievements
shortly after receiving his bachelor's
degree in 1665
the bubonic plague ravaged europe and
would take the lives of an estimated one
out of every four people in london
the pandemic forced newton to work from
his childhood home for the next two
years
and would lead to his most amazing
breakthroughs he used a prism to
discover that white light
and sunlight is made up of the colors of
the rainbow
the widely held belief at the time was
aristotle's theory that color was a mix
of black and white
to prove his theory newton built a
reflecting telescope that used mirrors
rather than lenses
leading to a more accurate image that's
a whole lot safer than the time he stuck
a sewing needle into his eye socket
to figure out if altering his eye shape
would change his perception of color
outside the family home was also an
apple tree the famous
apple tree legend has it that newton was
sitting beneath a tree when an apple
bonked him on the head
prompting him to think about gravity the
force that brings things down
there's no evidence to suggest the fruit
actually fell on his head
but he did ask the question that helped
unlock our understanding of the universe
could the same force reach all the way
to the moon
he reasoned that the same gravitational
pull kept the moon orbiting around earth
rather than wandering off
and he believed this could also explain
the movement of our planets in the solar
system
the mathematics at the time wasn't
sophisticated enough to determine the
motion of these objects
so newton invented his own form of math
calculus
there was a dispute over who actually
invented calculus
when german mathematician gottfried
leibniz published his paper on calculus
in 1684
newton claimed he'd done the same work
20 years earlier
the thing is newton was so secretive
that he hadn't actually made his efforts
public
because he couldn't stand the scrutiny
of his work when leibniz appealed to the
royal society in london
newton wielded his influence as the
scientific academy's president to get it
to side with him
most historians agree that the two
discovered calculus independently
in 1667 after the end of the plague he
returned to the university to continue
his research as a fellow
he was a workaholic sometimes he'd
forget to eat
just two years later while still in his
mid-20s he
obtained one of the most prestigious
academic posts in the world
the lucasian professor of mathematics
later held by none other than stephen
hawking
yet he was indifferent to his students
one time when no one showed up for class
he is said to have lectured to an empty
room his true passion
lay in research in 1687
he published his masterpiece the
mathematical principles of natural
philosophy
often referred to simply as principia
one of the most
important works ever written this was
his own first edition copy
it was here that he laid out his law of
universal gravitation as well as his
three laws of motion
the first describes how an object acts
when no force is acting upon it for
example a rocket stays still
until a force is applied to it the
second law tells us that the more mass
an object has
the more force it'll take to move it a
larger rocket requires more fuel to make
it accelerate
the final law states that for every
action there is a reaction
the engine produces hot exhaust gases
which flow through the rear of the
rocket
in reaction a thrusting force is
produced pushing the rocket
skywards newton may be considered one of
the greatest scientists the world has
ever known
yet he actually contributed more words
to theology
newton believed the bible provided the
code to the natural world
and by carefully studying the holy texts
he could predict the future
he believed the apocalypse would happen
in the year 2060
with the caveat it may end later but i
see no reason for its ending sooner
he foresaw a period marked by war and
catastrophe
followed by the second coming of christ
in the beginning of a new divine era
his religious side was largely hidden
from the public all the way until
1936 when sotheby's auctioned off his
theological manuscripts
they ended up in the hands of a jewish
scholar before being given to the state
of israel
7 500 pages in newton's own handwriting
he did hold unorthodox views of
christianity by rejecting the trinity
the belief in the father son and the
holy spirit and also fought against the
attempt by king james ii to catholicize
the universities
which got him elected as a member of
parliament where he served
two brief terms apparently the only
thing he said on the record was to
request that a window be closed
newton also had another unknown side to
him he spent 25 years
secretly studying alchemy the search for
a method to turn
common metals into gold this is a
manuscript where newton wrote down a
recipe
thought to be a step toward concocting
the mythical philosopher's stone
now popularized in the harry potter
series alchemists believed it could even
help
humans achieve immortality unfortunately
newton may have gotten mercury poisoning
from all the time spent in the
laboratory
examinations of his hair after his death
found high levels of the toxic compound
which scholars believe could explain his
mental breakdown in 1693
when he lost grip on reality he wrote
letters accusing the few friends he had
of conspiring against him
he suffered from insomnia and oppression
the personal crisis lasted a year and a
half
not too long after he ended his 30-year
career at cambridge
in 1696 he moved to london to help run
the royal mint
britain's finances were in ruins because
of the rampant practice of clipping off
pieces of coins
counterfeiting was also an issue newton
used a scientific precision to improve
the accuracy of coinmaking
as warden and then master of the mint he
also took it upon himself to prosecute
culprits
some of whom ended up hanging from the
gallows his later years would be spent
further cementing his reputation
and sometimes that meant trying to erase
his rivals from the history books
another ugly dispute involved a
brilliant scientist named robert hook
who contended he was the one who gave
newton the notion that led to his theory
of gravity and wanted credit
in response newton is accused of using
his powers as president of the royal
society
to get rid of the only known portrait of
hook none
exists to this day newton succeeded in
getting the legacy he wanted
in 1705 queen anne of england knighted
him during a royal visit to the
university of cambridge
making him sir isaac newton a
complicated man who remained reclusive
yet desperately wanted to be remembered
who threw himself into his work at the
cost of all hobbies
and never married who was a man of
science and also a man
of faith newton died in his sleep on
march 20 1727
and was buried at westminster abbey the
latin inscription on his grave reads
here lies that which was mortal of isaac
newton
his immortal legacy continues to mold
our modern world
the english poet alexander pope was so
moved by newton's accomplishments
he wrote the famous epitaph nature in
nature's laws lay hidden night
god said let newton be and all was light
for news think i'm cindy palm