Isaac Newton and Physics for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities
f x dx Ja OF diedlaw APUNTA Holland E A 1646 map of Lincolnshire England The villages of Woolsthorpe where Isaac Newton grew up and Grantham where he attended school are in the south west part of the county Woolsthorpe was so small it did not appear on the
CHAPTER 1 A BOY LIKE NO OTHER N A DARK September day in 1658 15 year old Isaac Newton was sitting on his bench in school when the wind began to blow all across Eng land Within hours an enormous storm raged throughout the small country As the boys at Isaac's school would soon learn another storm this one a political crisis was unfolding in London Oliver Cromwell England's Lord Protector was dead Who would rule England now But Isaac Newton wasn't worried about the rain nor was he thinking about England's troubles The storm brought something else a chance for Isaac to perform an experiment As soon as he could Isaac dashed outdoors to be with the wind First he jumped into it and then he jumped with it Against the wind with the wind over and over all the while marking the length of his jumps Later Isaac compared these jumps with others he
made in calm weather so that he could understand more about the wind and its magnificent force Isaac's experiment showed that the force of the storm enabled him to jump one foot farther than usual His schoolmates likely doubted Isaac's find ings so he proved it by showing them where he marked and measured his leaps Considering Isaac's perilous birth it was a mira cle that he was alive to experiment at all When he was born at home on Christmas Day in 1642 the midwife who helped his mother surely thought he would die Baby Isaac was so tiny he could fit into a quart pot The household servants who went on an errand after his birth didn't bother to hurry back because they were sure he would be dead before they returned All newborns heads wobble but this little baby was so weak his caregivers made a special collar to support his head After Isaac survived those first critical days of life his mother took him to the small church in Wool sthorpe a tiny village to be baptized The ceremony as with every baptism in Woolsthorpe was recorded on the parish register Baptizd Anno Domini 1642 Isaac sonne of Isaac Hanna Newton Ian 1 Jan 1 There was no father watching as Isaac was bap tized His father also named Isaac died when his
mother was six months pregnant Isaac s father according to the tax records of the day was a yeoman YOE man farmer a man who owned land and dwelled in a small manor home Isaac s father used an X to sign his name on the tax register because he could not read or write He also had a bad reputa tion a wild extravagant and weak man one wit ness said This bad boy caught the eye of Hannah Ayscough AZ kew In that day girls rarely received a formal education but Hannah's family allowed her to learn a bit about reading and writing Hannah's brother William Ayscough probably introduced Hannah to Isaac Newton and Hannah's parents approved the match She came to the marriage with her own money as well Hannah's parents gave her farmland that produced an income worth 50 English pounds a year far more than an average household earned in the young couple's day Why Isaac New ton's father died at the age of 36 remains a mystery Isaac's family was not rich by London standards but the Newtons lived in comfort Hannah Newton inherited her husband's property as well as every thing on it buildings barns sheep cattle and tools Hannah learned how to oversee the farm and the people who worked on it Hannah had every reason to think that her new baby would grow up to inherit the farm and run it just as his father had The name of Isaac's hometown fit exactly how its
