![]() (Image: Isaac Newton under his apple-tree. Newtons apple conjures up multiple allegorical resonances, and examining its historical accuracy is less important than uncovering the mythical truths embedded. And he talks to Tom McLeish of the University of York, the author of a book about creativity in science and art, about his observation that many scientists today do think they have had eureka moments. Philip discusses with historian of science Anna Marie Roos of the University of Lincoln, just 30 miles north of Woolsthorpe, how Newton developed his theory of gravity. Philip Ball tells the story of the life and ideas of Isaac Newton, who was born on Christmas Day in 1642. Rather they say that new understanding comes slowly, through hard graft, false trails, and failed ideas. But was that really how he came up with his great idea? These days, historians of science don’t fall for cosy eureka stories like this. Every school pupil knows that Sir Isaac Newton had the inspiration for his theory of gravity whilst sitting under an apple tree and pondering why apples. And all at once, Newton realised that the force of gravity pulling the apple down to the ground must be the same as the force that holds the moon in orbit around the earth. He was sitting in the orchard at Woolsthorpe, thinking deep thoughts, when an apple fell from a tree. Newton worked out that if the force of gravity pulled the apple from the tree, then it was also possible for gravity to exert its pull on objects much, much further away. He was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment that followed. The story of how Newton came up with his gravitational theory is one of the most familiar in the history of science. Sir Isaac Newton FRS (25 December 1642 20 March 1726/27) a was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author who was described in his time as a natural philosopher.
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