31 March 2016 - SIR ISAAC NEWTON AND THAT APPLE

SIR ISAAC NEWTON 

AND THAT APPLE

G'day folks,

No doubt you have heard the story about Sir Isaac Newton and an apple that fell on his head? Mm ... Read on.

 Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist and mathematician who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution.

Legend has it that a young Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree when he was bonked on the head by a falling piece of fruit, a 17th-century “aha moment” that prompted him to suddenly come up with his law of gravity. In reality, things didn’t go down quite like that. Newton, the son of a farmer, was born in 1642 near Grantham, England, and entered Cambridge University in 1661. Four years later, following an outbreak of the bubonic plague, the school temporarily closed, forcing Newton to move back to his childhood home, Woolsthorpe Manor. 

It was during this period at Woolsthorpe (Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667) that he was in the orchard there and witnessed an apple drop from a tree. There’s no evidence to suggest the fruit actually landed on his head, but Newton’s observation caused him to ponder why apples always fall straight to the ground (rather than sideways or upward) and helped inspired him to eventually develop his law of universal gravitation. In 1687, Newton first published this principle, which states that every body in the universe is attracted to every other body with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them, in his landmark work the “Principia,” which also features his three laws of motion.  

In 1726, Newton shared the apple anecdote with William Stukeley, who included it in a biography, “Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life,” published in 1752. According to Stukeley, “After dinner, the weather being warm, we went into the garden, & drank thea under the shade of some apple trees… he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind…. occasion’d by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a contemplative mood.” 

The esteemed mathematician and physicist died in 1727 and was buried at Westminster Abbey. His famous apple tree continues to grow at Woolsthorpe Manor.

Clancy's comment: I wonder if he actually liked apples?

Great review by John Campbell, movie maker:

 Hello Clancy,
 
Today, I have just completed reading the fourth of your short stories you
gave me, complete with your personal signature. That alone impressed me heaps, but today I finished reading 'Kick Ass Tyler'. I started with 'Mr Rainbow', that was stunning enough, but it got better with 'KY', followed by 'Sheeza'. Now, as I say, it was the ultimate, 'Kick Ass Tyler'. All these books and their intriguing content, miraculously came from you incredible imagination. Like your previous works I have read, I was unable to put them down, postponing many of life's necessities, like sleeping and eating, just so I could continue reading. Another member of my crew, Jenni, said the same thing.
 
Clancy, to say I am impressed, fails to even describe my reactions. If I could find a word that described being totally gob-smacked with each of them, I would still would not even start to convey the feeling each one of them left with me. As those sad words "The End" appeared quite suddenly on the last page, I was left feeling empty, as if I had suddenly lost some very dear friends. "Oh! it's over". This is true magic, Clancy. Firstly to say that I know the Author personally, and then to have him agree to my directing a full length movie of one of them, is incredibly humbling. Your work, as I start the 'GH' marathon has given me an indescribable sense of confidence.

 
Lost for words, I sincerely thank you.
 
John.

Thanks, John. So, don't waste any time, folks. Head up to the top right-hand side of this post and buy a book ... Or two.  

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