History UsefulNotes / IsaacNewton

[[caption-width-right:288:"[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E24S7E1Descent The day that apple fell on my head was the most momentous day in the history of science.]]"[[labelnote:*]]'''Stephen Hawking:''' Not the apple story again![[/labelnote]]

[[caption-width-right:288:"[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E24S7E1Descent The day that apple fell on my head was the most momentous day in the history of science.]]"]]

To elaborate, Isaac Newton is the originator of the Three Laws of Motion and the classical theory of universal gravitation ([[MemeticMutation in popular imagery, after seeing an apple fall from a tree/after an apple fell on his head]]).[[note]]Before Newton, people were fairly sure Creator/{{Aristotle}} was wrong about the idea that earthly and heavenly bodies are subject to different laws of motion, but until Newton nobody really understood the mathematics of what the rules were -- hence "universal", since it applies to all objects everywhere. "Classical" is because it was proven to be wrong by UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein's theory of general relativity, but it remains useful as an infinitesimally close approximation under ordinary conditions -- i.e. far from very massive objects like black holes and stars.[[/note]] Born on December 25, 1642 (i.e. [[SignificantBirthDate Christmas day]], not very long after UsefulNotes/GalileoGalilei died), the physicist was a RenaissanceMan and dabbled in astronomy, mathematics, alchemy and theology. His work on gravity would lend further credence to heliocentrism (the belief that the Sun, and not the Earth, is the centre of the Solar System). To derive the equations for motion in his ''Principia Mathematica'', he had to ''invent integral calculus'' out of whole cloth. He was one of the {{trope codifier}}s for the concept of EquivalentExchange ("for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction") and the idea of a rational, regular universe--the idea that there are certain laws of nature that are always true, everywhere. This idea has become so entrenched in popular thought that, when further work by UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein on the [[UsefulNotes/{{Relativity}} extreme]] [[UsefulNotes/QuantumPhysics scales]] of the universe proved that his conclusions ''aren't'' applicable everywhere, the larger body of scientific research since then--including that ''by'' Einstein--has revolved around the idea of reconciling the two and restoring (our understanding of) the physical universe to a single, overarching theory.

Ironically, in his lifetime he was better known for being Warden and then Master of the Royal Mint--jobs which, doubly ironically, were meant to be sinecures to give him extra income to support his scientific career. Instead, he took his coinage jobs seriously, and during his tenure at the Mint he introduced the practice of milling coins -- putting a decorative border on them so it would be obvious if pieces had been clipped off. This was important because of a practice at the time where criminals would [[PennyShaving clip the edges off coins, keep the bits of precious metal to melt down, and pass off the clipped coin as its full value]], weakening the currency (and thus causing inflation). This is remembered in the edge inscription of the modern British pound, ''[[Literature/TheAeneid DECUS ET TUTAMEN]]'' ("an ornament and a safeguard").[[note]]Except in years when the inscription is ''NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT'' ("No one assaults me with impunity"), the Scottish national motto, or ''PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD'' ("I am faithful to my country"), a quote from the unofficial Welsh national anthem "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" ("Land of My Fathers").[[/note]] Newton is also commemorated in the edge description of the two pound coin (whose tail side bears a representation of scientific and technological progress[[note]]that wouldn't actually work[[/note]]) with his relevant quote ''STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS''. (On being praised for his scientific insight: "If I have seen further than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants."[[note]]although this may actually have been a [[TakeThat short-guy joke]] aimed at his rival Robert Hooke, with whom he had the type of relationship that UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison would later have with UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla[[/note]]) He also became possibly the most badass inflation-fighter in history, personally going undercover to taverns and so on to catch counterfeiters and clippers and collect evidence to prosecute them at trial -- which he would then go on to do, as he was a justice of the peace (at the time more of an investigatory and prosecutorial position rather than a judicial one) in every county. Newton successfully prosecuted 28 counterfeiters while in office, most prominently William Chaloner, who was more or less his archnemesis during this period.[[note]]A particularly unpleasant scammer who had gotten rich off of setting up phony Catholic conspiracies and then turning in the poor idiots who went along with him. He then moved into the counterfeiting game by claiming--again falsely--that the Mint was helping counterfeiters by giving them tools, and then proposing that he be allowed to inspect the Mint tools to "improve" them and make them counterfeiting-proof, while ''really'' just trying to make the best possible fakes.[[/note]] He also inadvertently switched Great Britain from a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimetallism bimetallic]] system to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard gold standard]] by setting the ratio of the value of the gold guinea (and other gold coins) to the value of the silver penny in a way that heavily favoured gold ([[https://coinsweekly.com/the-gold-standard-part-1-how-and-why-gold-became-the-most-important-metal-for-coins/ due in part to the Spanish discovering huge gold deposits in Brazil]] and the subsequent recalculations to the price of gold and silver), leading to a mass exodus of silver from the country.[[note]]This led to a very long silver crisis in Britain, one that eventually led to the Opium Wars when the silver finally ran out, and China at the time would only take payment in silver.[[/note]] His tomb in Westminster Abbey references this financial career rather than his scientific one.

* ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons'': Newton is voted to #6 by British viewers in the election of the 2002 season.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Appears in the pre-credits of "[[Recap/DoctorWho60thASWildBlueYonder Wild Blue Yonder]]" which sees the Doctor and Donna crashing the TARDIS into the apple tree he's sitting under. Turns out they were responsible for the apple falling on his head.

* William Blake created a colour copper entitled "Isaac Newton" in 1795. It's intended as a hostile caricature of Newton as doomed materialist, but is widely [[MisaimedFandom misinterpreted]] as heroic.

* It turns out that Newton himself is the [[spoiler:BigBad Emperor]] in ''Anime/VisionOfEscaflowne.''