Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1642 in Lincolnshire, England. Newton's father, Isaac Newton, who was a farmer, died 3 months before Newton was born. Newton was not expected to survive as he was born small, weak and feeble, but regardless, when he was 3 years old his mother, Hannah Ayscough Newton, remarried a minister named Barnabas Smith and went to live with him. and left Newton with his grandmother. This experience later gave him insecurity. At age 12, Newton's mother returned with her 3 other children from his second marriage because he died. Newton attended school at the King's School in Grantham, Lincolnshire, where he stayed with a local apothecary and was introduced to the world of chemistry. Newton was also removed from school at age 12. old by his mother, who wanted him to become a farmer and run the farm. Newton was not good at farming and failed, so his mother sent him back to King's School to complete his basic education. Newton's uncle knew that Newton was intelligent, but he just wasn't challenged intellectually, so his uncle convinced Newton's mother to send Newton to Trinity College at the University of Cambridge when the Newton's uncle was a graduate. In 1661, Newton joined a work-study program, in which he waited tables and looked after the rooms of the wealthier students. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When Newton was studying at Cambridge in the 17th century, the scientific revolution was already in effect. The different visions of the universe theorized by the astronomers Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler and Galileo were already well known in most European university programs. Like most European universities, Cambridge was primarily interested in the philosophies of Aristotle and his view of nature. During Newton's first three years at Cambridge, he followed the standard curriculum, but he was fascinated by the more advanced sciences. In all his free time he used it to read books on modern philosophy. During this time, Newton kept a series of notes titled “Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae” (“Certain Philosophical Questions”). The “Questions” reveal that Newton had discovered a new concept of nature for the scientific revolution. Although Newton graduated without distinction, his work earned him the title of scholar and four years of financial support for his future studies. In 1665, the Great Plague in Europe struck Cambridge, forcing the university to close. After a two-year break, Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667 and was elected a minor fellow of Trinity College. Newton was still not considered a scholar. Over the next two years his luck improved and in 1669 Newton received his Master of Arts degree. Newton quickly wrote an exposition and shared it with his friend and mentor Isaac Barrow, but did not include his name as the author. In June 1669, Barrow shared the unauthorized manuscript with the British mathematician John Collins. In August 1669, Barrow identified its author as Collins as "Mr. Newton, a genius extraordinarily young and gifted in science." This was the first time that Newton's work had been brought to the attention of mathematicians. Soon after, Barrow decided to leave his job at Cambridge, and Newton took Barrow's job. Newton began to study light and not everyone at the Royal Academy was enthusiastic about Newton's discoveries in the field of light and his publication of the book Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections . , AndColors of Light in 1704. Among those who disliked Newton's discoveries was Robert Hooke, one of the original members of the Royal Academy and a scientist who accomplished much in his life in different fields. Newton theorized that light was composed of. particles, Hooke believed that light was composed of waves. Hooke therefore condemned Newton's article in condescending manners and attacked Newton's theories, works, experiments, processes and conclusions. However Hooke was not the only one to question Newton's work, a renowned Dutch scientist, Christiaan Huygens, and many French Jesuits also disagreed with Newton's theories. But because of Hooke's association with the Royal Society and his own work, Hooke's criticism hurt Newton the most. Newton was unable to handle Hooke's criticism, he went mad, his reaction to Hooke's criticism was to continue throughout his life. Hooke claimed that Newton's theories were flawed and argued the importance of his discoveries for all of science. A few months later, exchanges between the two men became more acrimonious and Newton began to consider leaving the company permanently. He only stayed because several other members assured him that other people and members believed in him and held him in their favor. The rivalry between Newton and Hooke continued for several years. The following year was not the best for Newton, as his mother died, which made him even more isolated and for six years he withdrew from intellectual exchanges, except when other people were talking, but despite this, he kept the conversation short. During his isolation from public life, Newton returned to his study of gravitation and its effects on the orbits of the planets. The motivation that set Newton on the right direction in this study came from Robert Hooke. In 1679 a general letter of correspondence was written to members of the Royal Society for Hooke's contributions. Hooke wrote to Newton and raised the question of planetary motion, suggesting that a formula involving inverse squares could explain the attraction between planets and the shape of their orbits. Newton solved the problem 18 years ago when he broke up with Cambridge and suffered the plague, but he couldn't get his grades back. One of Newton's friends persuaded him to solve the problem mathematically and offered to pay at all costs so that the ideas could be published, which was the case in Newton's book Principia, published in 1687. After Principia was published, Newton was ready for a new direction in his life as he did not find happiness in his position at Cambridge, he became more involved in other matters. He helped lead the resistance to King James II's attempts to revive Catholic education in Cambridge, and in 1689 Newton was elected to represent Cambridge in Parliament. In London, he met a group of intellectuals and became acquainted with a political philosopher named John Locke. A younger generation of British scientists became interested in Newton's new worldview and placed him as their leader. One of Newton's disciples was a Swiss mathematician friend he had met while in London, Nicolas Fatio de Duillier. In 1696, Newton was able to obtain the government position he had long sought: director of the Mint; after obtaining this new title, he moved to London and lived with his niece, Catherine Barton. She was the mistress of Lord Halifax, a senior government official who promoted Newton in 1699 to Master of the Mint, a position he held..