MA115 Quantitative Reasoning Project: Isaac Newton's Life & Work

This quantitative reasoning project delves into the life and contributions of Isaac Newton, presented in a first-person narrative. It covers his early life in Woolsthorpe, England, his education at Cambridge, and the inspirations that fueled his scientific curiosity. The project highlights Newton's significant contributions to mathematics, including his work on calculus, the generalized binomial theorem, and methods for approximating polynomial zeros. It also touches upon his contributions to physics, particularly in optics and the understanding of color properties. The essay further discusses the recognition Newton received, from initial skepticism to eventual acclaim within the scientific community, and the lasting impact of his theories on education and industry. The project includes a works cited page referencing sources used for research.

Quantitative Reasoning
Project
The Story of Isaac Newton

Early life
• I was born In Wool Thorpe in Lincolnshire England to a single mother and
grew up with the support of my grandmother.
• I had my basic education in the local schools before moving to Cambridge
where I undertook my bachelor’s degrees and later on masters’ study.
• My early life was filled with curiosity and love for science which prompted
me to venture into research very early in life.

Inspiration
• My innovations in science were greatly inspired by my curiosity attributes in life.
• The curiosity gave me the necessary motivation that I needed to conduct several
researches and come up with a number of scientific theories.
• Scholars such as Galileo and Kepler did motivate me to dig deeper into science.
• The work of scholars like Copernicus, Boyle and Bacon also did add value to my work.

Contributions to mathematics
• My first contribution to mathematics was in calculus where I defined integration as the
inverse of differentiation.
• I did apply the use of differentiation to find the slope of an instantaneous point of a curve.
• My other contribution was the discovery of the generalized binomial theory which was
applied in the algebraic expansion of binomial power.
• Another mathematics contribution derived from my work was the theory of finite
differences.

Cont.’
• I did discover a method of obtaining accurate approximations to the zeros of the
polynomials using the infinite power series.
• In physics, I added more knowledge in optics and other physics theories like the
gravitational force of motion.
• My research also did expound on color properties such as its intrinsic property to light.
• Scientific research I conducted proved that objects color arise as a result of their
interaction with colored light.

Recognition
• My work was never recognized at the early stage by my parent, but only after being
convinced by my uncle to allow me go back to college instead of being a farmer.
• My college did discover my special talent in science and even went ahead to
sponsor my studies. Later on the mathematics community identified my work and I
was even lucky to serve as the chairman of the society.
• Currently several theories and principles that I discovered are being applied both in
education and industries to make innovations that are improving life.

• Keynes, M., 2008. Balancing Newton's Mind: His Singular Behaviour and His
Madness of 1692–93. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. ,
62(3), p. 289–300.
• Storr, A., 1985. Isaac Newton. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research
Edition), 291(6511), p. 1779–1784.
• Whiteside, D., 1970. The Mathematical principles underlying Newton's
Principia Mathematica. Journal for the History of Astronomy, p. 116–138.