History knows many outstanding scientists, researchers, experimenters, and inventors. The discoveries and achievements of Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein are considered the peak of scientific thought. However, they did not receive the title of the smartest person in the history of civilization, according to Big Think.
Who received the title of the smartest
Experts have recognized the English scientist Isaac Newton as the smartest human. Although he lived in the 17th and early 18th centuries, his scientific discoveries and innovations remain the basis of modern physics and mathematics.
Newton was skilled in many sciences, fluent in mathematics, natural science, theology, mechanics, alchemy, and other fields of knowledge. He also wrote good poetry and knew a lot about art.
This scientist not only had encyclopedic knowledge in many sciences but also had a lively analytical mind capable of comparing disparate facts and finding patterns in them.
Who was Isaac Newton?
Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, in the family of a small but wealthy farmer. His father did not live to see the birth of his son. The boy was born prematurely, weak, and his life was in doubt for more than a week. But the future scientist survived, was baptized, and named after his father. Despite his poor health in childhood, he lived to be 84 years old.
Newton's mother later married and gave birth to three more children. So, Isaac was raised by his uncle, William Ayscough. As a child, he was silent, withdrawn, and loved to read and make technical toys.
After his stepfather died in 1653, part of the inheritance passed to his mother, who immediately registered it for her son. In 1655, Isaac was sent to school in Grantham. Later, the mother wanted to put her son in charge of the farm, but unsuccessfully. The teachers said the gifted boy should continue his education.
Isaac graduated from school and entered Cambridge University. In 1658, he conducted his first experiment - long jumps with and against the wind. This gave him an idea of the wind force expressed in feet. In 1664, Newton began his independent scientific work and compiled a list of 45 items of unsolved problems in nature and human life. His scientific support and inspirations were physicists: Galileo, Descartes, and Kepler. He was also influenced by Euclid, Fermat, Huygens, Wallis, and his teacher Isaac Barrow.
In 1669, he followed his teacher and was promoted to professor of mathematics and optics. Later he became interested in alchemy.
For more than 40 years he dedicated himself to science, made discoveries, wrote many scientific articles and books, and taught at the university.
In 1725, his health began to deteriorate markedly, as he suffered from stone disease. He moved to Kensington, near London, where he died on the night of March 31, 1727, in his sleep.
By royal decree, the scientist was buried in Westminster Abbey. The words engraved on his grave say: "Here is buried Isaac Newton, Knight, who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical principles peculiarly his own, explored the course and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, the tides of the sea, the dissimilarities in rays of light, and, what no other scholar has previously imagined, the properties of the colours thus produced... Mortals rejoice that there has existed such and so great an ornament of the human race!"
Newton's contribution to science
Isaac Newton made numerous discoveries that had a huge impact on the evolution of science. Here is just a part of his contribution.
Laws of celestial mechanics. Newton discovered the laws of motion of celestial bodies, which became the basis for the further study of astronomy.
The law of universal gravitation. This law explains gravitational interactions between physical bodies and is the basis for understanding many physical phenomena.
Laws of motion. Newton described the basic principles of interaction between physical objects, which became the key to the development of classical mechanics.
In mathematics, Newton introduced the concepts of derivative and integral, allowing for calculations that were previously inaccessible to scientists. These mathematical tools opened up new opportunities for analyzing and modeling physical processes.
Experts note that the innovations introduced by Newton did not exist before he created them. His contribution to optics and celestial mechanics is invaluable. Newton laid the foundations of modern physics, and his achievements became an epoch in science.
Even though the scientist passed away three centuries ago (in 1727), his contribution to science has not lost its relevance and remains fundamental to many modern studies. That is why Isaac Newton is recognized as the greatest scientific genius of all time.
At the same time, his devotion to religion was so great that he was also a theologian and more than half of his works were about theology. Based on his interpretation of the Bible, he estimated that Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 2060.
"Alchemical theories were not stupid. For example, lead ore often contains silver, and silver ore often contains gold, so the idea that lead 'matures' into silver and silver into gold is certainly worth attention. Alchemists have also discovered some elements, such as phosphorus," Newton wrote about alchemy, noting its importance.