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Newton
was born on Christmas Day 1642 to a farming family. His father died
three months before Isaac was born and his mother remarried, leaving
him the care of his grandmother.
He
attended the Free Grammar School (now King Edward VI Grammar School)
in Grantham, but was not considered a good student being labelled
‘idle’ and ‘inattentive’.
It
was decided that he should leave school and run the family estate,
but he had no interest in this. He returned to school and despite
his earlier performance showed great academic promise. In 1661 he
was accepted to Trinity College Cambridge.
Between
1665 and 1667 the University of Cambridge was dispersed due to The
Plague and Newton returned to Woolsthorpe Manor. Many of Newton’s
experiments took place there and he first conceived the law of gravity
while watching an apple fall in the orchard.
Throughout
his life Newton continued research into a wide range of subjects
including mathematics, optics, astronomy and alchemy. He was also
elected as Member of Parliament for the University, but only held
this post for a year.
In
1703 he was elected as President of the Royal Society. This was
not a popular move as many of the other members considered him rather
cantankerous. Despite this he remained in the post until his death.
He
was also the first man to be knighted for his scientific work, receiving
the honour from Queen Anne in 1705.
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