Quarantine Productivity
2020 is far from the first time that people have been forced to quarantine themselves from a deadly disease. From 1665 to 1666, the Bubonic Plague swept through London, resulting in The Great Plague of London, which killed an estimated 100,000 people over the span of 18 months (NationalArchives.gov.uk).
At 22 years old, Isaac Newton has just graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge. He went to Cambridge to study law, but was far more interested in the recent works of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), and many others. Soon after he graduated from undergrad in 1665, Cambridge University shut down due to the plague. Unfortunately, remote learning was a tad more difficult in the 1660s.
While not considered an exceptional student at a young age, Newton used this time under widespread quarantine to develop what is now known as calculus, the laws of gravity, and optics. Back at his family's farm, Newton spent this time studying and developing new math and ideas. Newton worked on what he referred to at first as "fluxions", which is now referred to as calculus. He used this discovery to solve things such as the velocity of a moving object.
At this time, Newton also wrote his theories of motion and gravity. (Although Newton was far from the first to theorize or study gravity, the laws and equations in use today are credited to him.) So the story goes, "Newton was drinking tea as the British often do, and he observed an apple falling from a tree. He deduced that the same force which caused the apple to fall to the ground causes the moon to orbit the earth," (Math.Wichita.edu).
Additionally, Isaac Newton also used a prism to split white light from the sun into a prism (Dark Side of the Moon?), which proved that white light was made up of many wavelengths of light combined. He was able to use this to show that different wavelengths of light are deviated more than others. However, he was not able to explain why this occurred, (astro-canada.ca).
Newton also spent this time trying to unlock the secrets of alchemy. Alchemy is essentially "a blend of chemistry, magic and religion. Achlemists' goal was to find a way to produce gold out of different metals and also to find a magic potion which could cure ills and increase ones life," (Math.Wichita.edu). Many argue that Newton spent more of his time on alchemy than "real" science.
Unfortunately, Isaac Newton was very sensitive to criticism and hesitated to publish any of his findings for several years. While Newton held onto his discoveries, another mathematician by the name of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was also developing the theory of calculus. "This led to a bitter dispute between the two mathematicians later known as the 'Great Sulk'," (Mscs.Dal.ca). Now, both are accredited with having developed calculus independently of one another. Most modern symbols used in mathematics, including the = sign and d/dx were invented by Leibniz.
Overall, a very productive 18-month quarantine for Isaac Newton. Meanwhile, this author has accomplished nothing but playing video games and eating pasta.
Sources:
https://www.biography.com/news/isaac-newton-quarantine-plague-discoveries
http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/Men/newton.html
https://www.mscs.dal.ca/~kgardner/History.html
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/great-plague/
https://www.famousscientists.org/isaac-newton/
https://astro-canada.ca/la_decouverte_du_spectre_de_la_lumiere_blanche-the_white_light_spectrum-eng
2020 is far from the first time that people have been forced to quarantine themselves from a deadly disease. From 1665 to 1666, the Bubonic Plague swept through London, resulting in The Great Plague of London, which killed an estimated 100,000 people over the span of 18 months (NationalArchives.gov.uk).
At 22 years old, Isaac Newton has just graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge. He went to Cambridge to study law, but was far more interested in the recent works of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), and many others. Soon after he graduated from undergrad in 1665, Cambridge University shut down due to the plague. Unfortunately, remote learning was a tad more difficult in the 1660s.
While not considered an exceptional student at a young age, Newton used this time under widespread quarantine to develop what is now known as calculus, the laws of gravity, and optics. Back at his family's farm, Newton spent this time studying and developing new math and ideas. Newton worked on what he referred to at first as "fluxions", which is now referred to as calculus. He used this discovery to solve things such as the velocity of a moving object.
At this time, Newton also wrote his theories of motion and gravity. (Although Newton was far from the first to theorize or study gravity, the laws and equations in use today are credited to him.) So the story goes, "Newton was drinking tea as the British often do, and he observed an apple falling from a tree. He deduced that the same force which caused the apple to fall to the ground causes the moon to orbit the earth," (Math.Wichita.edu).
Additionally, Isaac Newton also used a prism to split white light from the sun into a prism (Dark Side of the Moon?), which proved that white light was made up of many wavelengths of light combined. He was able to use this to show that different wavelengths of light are deviated more than others. However, he was not able to explain why this occurred, (astro-canada.ca).
Newton also spent this time trying to unlock the secrets of alchemy. Alchemy is essentially "a blend of chemistry, magic and religion. Achlemists' goal was to find a way to produce gold out of different metals and also to find a magic potion which could cure ills and increase ones life," (Math.Wichita.edu). Many argue that Newton spent more of his time on alchemy than "real" science.
Unfortunately, Isaac Newton was very sensitive to criticism and hesitated to publish any of his findings for several years. While Newton held onto his discoveries, another mathematician by the name of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was also developing the theory of calculus. "This led to a bitter dispute between the two mathematicians later known as the 'Great Sulk'," (Mscs.Dal.ca). Now, both are accredited with having developed calculus independently of one another. Most modern symbols used in mathematics, including the = sign and d/dx were invented by Leibniz.
Overall, a very productive 18-month quarantine for Isaac Newton. Meanwhile, this author has accomplished nothing but playing video games and eating pasta.
Sources:
https://www.biography.com/news/isaac-newton-quarantine-plague-discoveries
http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/Men/newton.html
https://www.mscs.dal.ca/~kgardner/History.html
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/great-plague/
https://www.famousscientists.org/isaac-newton/
https://astro-canada.ca/la_decouverte_du_spectre_de_la_lumiere_blanche-the_white_light_spectrum-eng
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