Trinity Physics – A.C.H. Cheung and G.L. Squires Isaac Newton
Trinity Physics – A.C.H. Cheung and G.L. Squires Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe Manor in the small village of Colsterworth, near Grantham, on Christmas day, 1642. His father, whose family had farmed a modest estate for several generations, died three months before Newton was born. At the age of twelve he was sent to the King’s School at Grantham, which still exists and where his signature can be seen, carved on the library wall. There, under the influence of the perceptive schoolmaster, Henry Stokes, his intellectual interests were gradually awakened. He was fascinated with the forces of moving air and water, and more abstractly with the concept of time. He built kites, a sundial, a water-clock, and a model windmill driven by a mouse urged on by corn placed in front of it. When he was seventeen his mother called him home, intending that he should manage the family farm. Fortunately, however, his uncle and the schoolmaster had recognised his talents, and persuaded her to allow him to go to university. In June 1661 he entered Trinity, his uncle’s alma mater, equipping himself with a lock for his desk, a quart bottle with ink to fill it, a notebook, a pound of candles, and a chamber-pot. He entered as a sub-sizar, a student who paid his way by waiting and performing menial duties for fellows and fellow commoners (wealthy students who dined on high table). He was awarded a scholarship in 1664, given a livery allowance of 13s 4d (67p) per annum, a stipend of the same amount, and commons, i.e.
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