- Newton is considered to be the first real scientist, and most people know him for being the person that discovered gravity. The scientist told at least four people in his life that it was an apple falling from a tree that inspired his theory of gravity - though of course this did not happen instantly, and he probably wasn't hit on the head by the apple!
- The scientist was amazed by how bodies moved, and was a great thinker in this area as well. His rival, Robert Hooke, disagreed with him most of the time, and was also an individual inspired by life. Newton's great friend, Edmond Halley, was the first person to observe Halley's Comet in great detail, and the comet was later named after him.
- When Newton was aged 36, he was involved in a rather large debate that involved the movement of a body heading towards the center of the earth. The persistence of Hooke drove Newton into a rage; both ended up accepting there was a force that pulled heavy objects towards the middle of the Earth as a result. It was suggested by Hooke that this force depended on the distance from the center. No matter how much they debated however, neither of them knew precisely what this force was. They both knew at this time, that the planets were moving.
- Given Hooke's inability to work out the mathematics, he produced a theory for Newton; it was down to Newton to find the mathematical curve and come up with some physical reason for the presence of this force.
- It is this history that makes Newton so famous; due to his calculations and theories he really is considered the first 'true' scientist to have ever existed.
