1-153-670 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

'Newton Investigating Light', c1879. English scientist and mathematician Isaac Newton's (1642-1727) discoveries were prolific and exerted a huge influence on science and thought. His theories of gravity and his three laws of motion were outlined in his greatest work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, (1687) and he is credited with discovering differential calculus. He also formulated theories regarding optics and the nature of light, set out in Opticks, that led to him building the first reflecting telescope. Knighted by Queen Anne in 1705, Newton is buried in Westminster Abbey, London. Engraving after picture by JA Houston published c1879.