The Making of Isaac Newton 牛頓＋蘋果＝萬有引力

Anyone who has ever gone to school is probably aware that Isaac Newton formed his theory of gravity after seeing an apple fall from a tree. This story is allegedly true. What is certain, however, is that few people in history have had a greater impact on the development of science and mathematics.

Newton was born on Christmas Day 1642, in the rural English county of Lincolnshire. His father died before his birth, and his mother's remarriage to a man who did not want him around meant that Isaac's early years were spent in the care of his grandmother. At age 12, he was sent away to school in the town of Grantham.

Living in the house of an apothecary called Clark, young Isaac showed a keen interest in the man's chemistry books and laboratory. He also built devices to amuse Clark's stepdaughter, including floating lanterns and a windmill run by a live mouse. Newton was said to be attracted to the girl, but she later married someone else, while he remained single all his life.

Newton entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1661. He arrived at a promising time, when more and more scholars were beginning to question long-held beliefs about the world. This new attitude was being expressed through a growing interest in science and mathematics.

After graduating in 1665, Newton planned to study for a master's degree, but the university was closed due to an outbreak of the plague. He returned to his home village for 18 months, during which time he did most of the thinking that led to his later work on gravitation and optics. This was also when the apple incident is said to have occurred. Newton's first biographer claimed he heard the story from the man himself.

Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667, completed his studies, and at the age of 27, became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics there. He was given this position on the recommendation of his predecessor , and held it for 27 years.

Newton's experiments in optics led to improvements in the effectiveness of telescopes. He sent his results to the Royal Society, England's most prestigious scientific organization. The Society's positive reaction encouraged him to send in a paper outlining his experiments on light.

Some of the Society's more conservative members objected to Newton's revolutionary conclusions. Always sensitive to criticism, he became discouraged and almost quit scientific work altogether. The great astronomer Edmund Halley eventually persuaded Newton to put together the results of his work on the laws of motion.

The outcome was the famous "Principia Mathematica", first published in 1687, in which Newton presented solutions to most of the problems of motion that had concerned earlier scientists. This was the high point of his professional life, though he continuously revised and improved the work until his death in 1727. The papers Newton left behind testify to the incredible powers of concentration of the genius who opened the door to the age of technology.

凡是上過學的人大概都知道這個典故：艾薩克·牛頓在看到從樹上掉下的蘋果后，就創立了著名的萬有引力學說。這故事據說是真的。不過，可以確定的是，歷史上很少有人能同時在科學和數學領域的發展上有比牛頓更大的影響力。

1642年的圣誕節，牛頓出生在英國林肯郡的鄉間。由于他父親在他出生前就去世了，而他母親改嫁后的丈夫又很嫌棄他，艾薩克在祖母的照顧下度過了他的童年時光。在他十二歲那年，他被送到格蘭瑟姆的一所學校讀書。

少年艾薩克住在一位名叫克拉克的藥劑師家，他對克拉克的化學書籍和實驗室表現出濃厚的興趣。他還制作了一些小設備逗克拉克的繼女高興，包括浮水燈籠及用老鼠跑步所帶動的風車。據說牛頓被這女孩所吸引，但她后來還是嫁給了別人，而牛頓則終生未娶。

1661年，牛頓進入著名的劍橋“三一學院”。他正好趕上了一個充滿希望的時代。當時有越來越多的學者開始對人們長久以來所持的關于世界的理論提出疑問。而人們對科學和數學日益高漲的興趣，也清楚表明了這種新的看法。

1665年牛頓從大學畢業后，打算攻讀碩士學位，但大學卻由于鼠疫的爆發而關閉。他回到家鄉呆了18個月，他以后在萬有引力與光學方面的研究大部分是在這個時期蘊釀構思完成的。據說著名的“蘋果事件”也是在這段時期發生的。第一個撰寫牛頓傳記的作家聲稱他是從牛頓本人口中聽到這個故事的。

1667年，牛頓回到劍橋，完成了他的學業，并在27歲時成為劍橋學院的數學教授。他是通過前任教授的推薦而獲此教職，擔任了27年之久。

牛頓在光學領域的實驗，導致了后來對望遠鏡效能的改善。他將實驗結果送到英國最具威望的科學組織──“皇家學會”，而該學會對此所作的積極反應，激勵他送去了一篇光學實驗報告的大綱。

然而學會中一些更保守的會員反對牛頓革命性的結論。對批評總是很敏感的牛頓，聽到這些意見后大為沮喪，而且幾乎要放棄科學研究。著名的天文學家埃德蒙·哈雷，最后說服了牛頓讓他總結在運動定律方面的研究結果。

牛頓的研究成果在1687年首次出版的《自然哲學的數學原理》一書中發表。在這本書里牛頓對以前科學家所關心的大部分力學難題做出了解答。雖然他在1727年去世前仍持續地修正、改進他在這方面的研究著作，可這段時期仍是他事業的巔峰時期。牛頓留下的研究論述證明了這位開啟科技時代大門的天才擁有驚人的專注力。