Skip to main content

Newton, Sir Isaac, 1642-1727 (Knight, natural philosopher and mathematician)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1642 - 1727

Biography

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was born at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, on 25 December 1642. He attended Grantham Grammar School, 1654-1656, before matriculating at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1661 (B.A., 1665), where he became a Fellow in 1667. In 1669 he was appointed Lucasian Professor at the university. Newton was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1672, and served as its President, 1703-1727. He was M.P. for Cambridge University, 1689 and 1701-1702. Newton's work on optics was published in 1704, and his research on the laws of motion appeared in his Principia, published in 1687. His other work included theological writings and the use of astronomy to try to amend ancient chronology. He was knighted in 1705, and died at Kensington, London, on 20 March 1727.

Found in 431 Collections and/or Records:

 File

Draft Letter from Newton to Locke (subsequently sent on 2 August 1692 - see Correspondence, vol. 3, 217-219); miscellaneous calculations associated with revision of the Principia, Summer 1692

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965.13: 469
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Fonds:

Early drafts of the Principia and related notes; additions, corrections and revisions to the Principia. This is the 'general' category: papers relating specifically to lunar theory or containing mathematical problems are classified separately.

Dates: Summer 1692
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft letter from Sir Isaac Newton probably to John Chamberlayne, defending Keill, c 1710-c 1720

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3968.30 438-444
Scope and Contents

Also a copy in Newton's hand of an English translation of Leibnitz's letter to Chamberlayne.

Dates: c 1710-c 1720
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Item

Draft Letter from Sir Isaac Newton to Johann Burchard Mencke, 1724

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9597/2/18/125a
Scope and Contents From the Series:

Primarily Newton autographs and letters to Newton.

Dates: 1724
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/macclesfield/1
 Series

Draft Letter from Sir Isaac Newton to John Flamsteed, 12 April 1681 (The final copy of this letter was sent on 16 April)

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3979.3
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

The Portsmouth Collection is the principal collection of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical papers, including early drafts of the Principia, and his correspondence with Oldenburg, Halley Flamsteed and many of the other most prominent scientists of his day.

Dates: 12 April 1681 (The final copy of this letter was sent on 16 April)
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft letter from Sir Isaac Newton to Pierre des Maizeaux, c 1710-c 1720

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3968.29: 420-437
Scope and Contents

Contains proposed additions to the "Remarks" on Leibnitz's second Letter to the Abbe Conti (see Des Maizeaux, Vol. 2, pp. 82-106.)

Dates: c 1710-c 1720
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft Letters from Isaac Newton to John Wallis, c 1676-c 1700

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3977.7-8
Scope and Contents

Concerning the publication of his letters to Oldenburg of October 1676, including corrections to typographical errors.

Dates: c 1676-c 1700
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft letters from Sir Isaac Newton to Pierre Varignon and others, c 1713-c 1720

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3968.42: 594-619
Scope and Contents

Relating to Bernoulli's letter of 7 June 1713

Dates: c 1713-c 1720
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft Letters from the Referees of 'Historia Coelestis Britannica' to Ole Roemer Relating to Tycho's Observations, c 1705-c 1710

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.4006.2: 3-5bis
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

The Portsmouth Collection is the principal collection of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical papers, including early drafts of the Principia, and his correspondence with Oldenburg, Halley Flamsteed and many of the other most prominent scientists of his day.

Dates: c 1705-c 1710
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 File

Draft of a corollary to a 'Prop. XVIII' (not Prop. XVIII of any printed version of Principia), c 1685 (I.B. Cohen identifies it as originating before the first edition of Principia.)

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965.10: 104-105
Scope and Contents

Apparently an early version of the Scholium Generale which concludes Sec. IV of the 1687 first edition of Principia but is moved to Sec. VI in the 1713 and 1726 editions.

Dates: c 1685 (I.B. Cohen identifies it as originating before the first edition of Principia.)
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft of Letter from Sir Isaac Newton to the Editor of Memoirs of Literature, 17 May 1712

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3968.17: 257
Scope and Contents

Not published in Memoirs of Literature

Dates: 17 May 1712
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft of Newton's Letter concerning 'A Scheme of Mathematical Learning Proposed for Mr Stone's Foundation at Christ's Hospital', c 1665-c 1727

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.4005.21: 93
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

Papers either in Newton's hand or concerning his life and work. Subjects covered include the Royal Society, education, cosmography, mechanics, mathematics, astronomy and shipbuilding.

Dates: c 1665-c 1727
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft of Newton's Letter concerning 'A Scheme of Mathematical Learning Proposed for Mr Stone's Foundation at Christ's Hospital', c 1665-c 1727

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.4005.22: 94-101
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

Papers either in Newton's hand or concerning his life and work. Subjects covered include the Royal Society, education, cosmography, mechanics, mathematics, astronomy and shipbuilding.

Dates: c 1665-c 1727
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Item

Draft of Part of Principia, Book II

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9597/2/18/124-125
Scope and Contents

Covers Proposition XXXVII. Theorema XXIX; Lemma IV-VIII and Propositio XXXVIII. Theorema XXX (here called Theorema XXIX.) See also item 9597/2/18/127 f.125v contains a list "Fallacies & false Hypotheses".

Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/macclesfield/1
 Item

Draft of Part of Principia, Book II

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9597/2/18/127
Scope and Contents

Covers Propositio XXXVII. See also item 9597/2/18/124-125.

Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/macclesfield/1
 Series

Draft of part of the "Account of the Commercium Epistolicum" (i.e. the English "Recensio") for Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 29. (1714 - 1716), pp. 173-224, c 1714

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3968.39: 575-792
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

The Portsmouth Collection is the principal collection of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical papers, including early drafts of the Principia, and his correspondence with Oldenburg, Halley Flamsteed and many of the other most prominent scientists of his day.

Dates: c 1714
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft of part of the Preface to the 1st Edition of the Principia: not quite as printed, in part fuller, 1687

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965:15
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Fonds:

Early drafts of the Principia and related notes; additions, corrections and revisions to the Principia. This is the 'general' category: papers relating specifically to lunar theory or containing mathematical problems are classified separately.

Dates: 1687
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 File

Draft of part of the preface to the first edition of the Principia. Not quite as printed, in part fuller. Together with the printed prefatory poem by Edmund Halley, slightly amended by hand., Spring 1687

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965.15: 619-620
Scope and Contents

Much interlineated and corrected. There is a fair copy by an amanuensis at Add. 3963.15: 183, which differs slightly from this.

Dates: Spring 1687
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 File

Draft of parts of Principia, Propositions XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV and XL, c 1680-c 1687

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965.10: 139-140
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Fonds:

Early drafts of the Principia and related notes; additions, corrections and revisions to the Principia. This is the 'general' category: papers relating specifically to lunar theory or containing mathematical problems are classified separately.

Dates: c 1680-c 1687
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 File

Draft of Principia Proposition XL, Problem X, c 1680-c 1687

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965.10: 141-142
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Fonds:

Early drafts of the Principia and related notes; additions, corrections and revisions to the Principia. This is the 'general' category: papers relating specifically to lunar theory or containing mathematical problems are classified separately.

Dates: c 1680-c 1687
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 File

Draft of Principia Proposition XXXV, Problem VIII, c 1680-c 1687

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965.10: 137-138
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Fonds:

Early drafts of the Principia and related notes; additions, corrections and revisions to the Principia. This is the 'general' category: papers relating specifically to lunar theory or containing mathematical problems are classified separately.

Dates: c 1680-c 1687
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft of: "Prop. XVI Theor XII", c 1710-c 1715

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3984.3
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

The Portsmouth Collection is the principal collection of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical papers, including early drafts of the Principia, and his correspondence with Oldenburg, Halley Flamsteed and many of the other most prominent scientists of his day.

Dates: c 1710-c 1715
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft of Proposition XXXVII, c 1710-c 1715

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3984.11
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

The Portsmouth Collection is the principal collection of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical papers, including early drafts of the Principia, and his correspondence with Oldenburg, Halley Flamsteed and many of the other most prominent scientists of his day.

Dates: c 1710-c 1715
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Draft of the Opening of Newton's Opticks, Book Three, c 1704

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3970.3: 79-90
Scope and Contents

The margin is as in the printer's copy, but contains no printer's marks.

Dates: c 1704
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 Series

Drafts of an unpublished Prop. Cas. 7 of 'De quadratura curvarum', c 1665-c 1700

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3960.8: 137-160
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Fonds:

Papers on infinite series, curves and fluxions, in the hands of Newton and two others.

Dates: c 1665-c 1700
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.
 File

Drafts of the preface to the third edition of Principia, 1724-November 1725

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.3965.16: 621-628
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Fonds:

Early drafts of the Principia and related notes; additions, corrections and revisions to the Principia. This is the 'general' category: papers relating specifically to lunar theory or containing mathematical problems are classified separately.

Dates: 1724-November 1725
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Due to the fragile nature of the material access to the collection is restricted. It is available to view in the Cambridge University Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton/1 with the exception of MS.Add.4007, which is open for consultation by holders of a Reader's Ticket valid for the Manuscripts Reading Room.

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 421
Collection 10
 
Subject
Mathematics 36
Calculus 15
Astronomy 6
Education 5
Geometry 5