Isaac Newton explained to kids
Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer who is widely considered to be one of the most influential scientists of all time. He is best known for his work on the laws of motion and gravity, and he also made important contributions to optics and calculus.
Newton was born on December 25, 1642, in the town of Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, England. His father died before he was born, and his mother remarried when he was three, so he was raised by his grandmother. Newton was not a particularly good student, and he was later expelled from grammar school. He then attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics and physics.
After graduating from Cambridge, Newton returned to his hometown and began working on his theories of motion and gravity. In 1687, he published his most famous work, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), which laid the foundations for classical mechanics.
Newton also made important contributions to optics, and he developed a theory of color based on the observation that a prism can split sunlight into a spectrum of colors. He also invented the reflecting telescope.
Newton died on March 20, 1727, in London, England. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.