🍎 Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and alchemist, one of the outstanding scientists of modern history, was born 380 years ago today. 🍎
Newton’s name is associated with the law of universal gravitation, which according to the familiar story he came to understand after an apple fell on his head. He laid the foundations of classical mechanics and also carried out important research in optics. He demonstrated that the colours seen through a prism are components of the white light passing through it.
Less well known is that Newton devoted just as much depth and time to studying the Bible and religion as he did to scientific questions. He studied the Book of Revelation extensively and, on the basis of his own calculations, predicted the end of the world for 2️⃣0️⃣6️⃣0️⃣. 😱😱😱 Throughout his life he believed that his religious writings would prove more enduring than anything else he had produced.
Even fewer people know that even the genius Newton lost almost all his money in one of history’s greatest stock-market bubbles, involving shares in the South Sea Company. In September 1720, almost penniless, he reflected on the strange nature of markets and people: “I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”
In 1977 the Hungarian Post issued a stamp with attached labels for the 250th anniversary of Newton’s death. The miniature sheet, designed by János Kass and containing four stamps and four labels, was issued in 813,600 perforated and 40,000 imperforate examples.
