The Making of Isaac Newton 牛顿＋苹果＝万有引力

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.

凡是上过学的人大概都知道这个典故：艾萨克·牛顿在看到从树上掉下的苹果后，就创立了著名的万有引力学说。这故事据说是真的。不过，可以确定的是，历史上很少有人能同时在科学和数学领域的发展上有比牛顿更大的影响力。

1642年的圣诞节，牛顿出生在英国林肯郡的乡间。由于他父亲在他出生前就去世了，而他母亲改嫁后的丈夫又很嫌弃他，艾萨克在祖母的照顾下度过了他的童年时光。在他十二岁那年，他被送到格兰瑟姆的一所学校读书。

少年艾萨克住在一位名叫克拉克的药剂师家，他对克拉克的化学书籍和实验室表现出浓厚的兴趣。他还制作了一些小设备逗克拉克的继女高兴，包括浮水灯笼及用老鼠跑步所带动的风车。据说牛顿被这女孩所吸引，但她后来还是嫁给了别人，而牛顿则终生未娶。

1661年，牛顿进入著名的剑桥“三一学院”。他正好赶上了一个充满希望的时代。当时有越来越多的学者开始对人们长久以来所持的关于世界的理论提出疑问。而人们对科学和数学日益高涨的兴趣，也清楚表明了这种新的看法。

1665年牛顿从大学毕业后，打算攻读硕士学位，但大学却由于鼠疫的爆发而关闭。他回到家乡呆了18个月，他以后在万有引力与光学方面的研究大部分是在这个时期蕴酿构思完成的。据说著名的“苹果事件”也是在这段时期发生的。第一个撰写牛顿传记的作家声称他是从牛顿本人口中听到这个故事的。

1667年，牛顿回到剑桥，完成了他的学业，并在27岁时成为剑桥学院的数学教授。他是通过前任教授的推荐而获此教职，担任了27年之久。

牛顿在光学领域的实验，导致了后来对望远镜效能的改善。他将实验结果送到英国最具威望的科学组织──“皇家学会”，而该学会对此所作的积极反应，激励他送去了一篇光学实验报告的大纲。

然而学会中一些更保守的会员反对牛顿革命性的结论。对批评总是很敏感的牛顿，听到这些意见后大为沮丧，而且几乎要放弃科学研究。著名的天文学家埃德蒙·哈雷，最后说服了牛顿让他总结在运动定律方面的研究结果。

牛顿的研究成果在1687年首次出版的《自然哲学的数学原理》一书中发表。在这本书里牛顿对以前科学家所关心的大部分力学难题做出了解答。虽然他在1727年去世前仍持续地修正、改进他在这方面的研究著作，可这段时期仍是他事业的巅峰时期。牛顿留下的研究论述证明了这位开启科技时代大门的天才拥有惊人的专注力。