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Article: Newton, Isaac (1642–1727)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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NEWTON, ISAAC (1642
–
1727)
NEWTON, ISAAC
(1642
–
1727), natural philosopher, lay theologian, and administrator. Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day 1642 in the tiny Lincolnshire hamlet of Woolsthorpe. Named after a father who died before his birth, Isaac at the age of three lost his widowed mother, Hannah, who left Woolsthorpe to marry an elderly clergyman. He would not live under the same roof as his mother until, after being widowed a second time, she returned with three additional children in 1653. Two years later, Newton was sent to the King's School in nearby Grantham. Although he received little instruction in mathematics, he benefited from a thorough preparation ...