Isaac Newton: The Great One

Today, we celebrate the birthday of the great Isaac Newton.  Many people vaguely associate him with gravity, distantly remembering a folk tale involving a falling apple and a young Isaac Newton with a headache. But few realize how far-reaching his contributions to physics actually were.  And still fewer realize he is considered one of the top three mathematicians in all human history (Gauss and Archimedes being the other two).  ​

Though there are multitudes of interesting tidbits about Newton's life, we'll mention only two: one from his boyhood, and one from his later years.  

Tidbit #1: Did you know that Newton was at one point only a mediocre student?  He was!  He had little interest in what was being taught, and was too busy creating sundials and water clocks (he was always a great mechanic).  Then one day Newton had a fight with a bully at school, and thrashed him.  But beating up the bully wasn't enough for Newton.  It galled him that the bully's marks were higher than his, so he decided to devote himself to the school's curriculum.  Newton quickly excelled, attracted the teacher's attention, and then never looked back.  Who says nothing good comes from a bully?!
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Tidbit #2: In his later years, Newton was actually entrusted with the integrity of England's currency.  Seriously!  It was originally supposed to be a symbolic appointment, meant to reward him for raising England's academic prestige with his massive scientific accomplishments.  But Newton didn't treat anything lightly, if his name was going to be attached to it.  He used his knowledge of chemistry and mathematics to literally hound counterfeiters to death.  No joke!  He actually had one major counterfeiter hanged, drawn, quartered, and publicly disemboweled!  Messing with a nation's currency value and money supply was an attack against every person in the country, and Newton wouldn't have any of it.  

So here's to Newton.  The Man, the Myth, the Legend...

...and the Executioner!

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