Who was Isaac Newton?

Have you ever wondered why things fall down instead of floating up? Get ready for a mind-blowing adventure as Mira and Finn explore the wild and amazing life of Isaac Newton! When a terrible plague forced a young Isaac to leave his college and go home in 1665, he didn't just sit around. Instead, he started his famous "Year of Wonders"! We are busting a massive historical myth today: an apple never actually bonked him on the head! But seeing a single apple fall in his garden did make him ask a question that changed the world forever. How does an invisible force connect a tiny piece of fruit to the giant Moon floating in outer space? You'll learn how Earth acts like a massive magnet, why the Moon is technically always falling, and how Newton literally had to invent a brand-new type of math called Calculus just to prove his theories! Plus, discover some of his absolute weirdest moments, from poking his own eyeballs for science to the hilariously short speech he gave to the British Parliament. Tune in to uncover the ultimate instruction manual for the universe!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Welcome to Science Is Not Boring by kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Before we dive in today, we have a huge shout-out to Isaac, age 11, listening all the way from Orlando, Florida. Hey Isaac, thanks for tuning in. Isaac wrote in to tell us that today's scientist is his absolute favourite, and he asked for a whole episode all about him. Great idea, Isaac. This one is just for you. Wait, so what's the big hook today?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Imagine an invisible force so powerful it holds planets in orbit around a sun large enough to fit 1.3 million Earths inside. But so incredibly gentle, it guides a single, three-ounce piece of fruit to the ground.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Whoa! A force that can do both of those things? Is that even possible?

SPEAKER_01 1:44

It absolutely is! Today we're exploring the wildlife of Isaac Newton and the true mind-blowing story of how he figured out the rules of gravity. To understand how gravity was discovered, we have to travel back to the summer of 1665 in England.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

1665? That's over 350 years ago. What was the world like back then?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

It was a very different time. People still thought the Earth was the centre of everything. But something scary was happening in 1665. A terrible disease called the Great Plague was spreading across London. Oh no.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Did they have to close things down, like we did for the pandemic recently?

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Exactly like that. Cambridge University had to close its doors for safety. A 22-year-old college student named Isaac Newton was forced to pack his bags and go home. Wait, he got sent home from school? For how long? For almost two whole years. He travelled north back to his family home, a place called Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Two years of no school. I bet he just played games and relaxed the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Not exactly. Newton was obsessed with reading and math. Without teachers or a set schedule, he built his own bookshelves, bought glass prisms, and started doing his own wild experiments. Scientists now call this his year of wonders.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

What kind of wonders? Like magic tricks?

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Better than magic. Science! He started doing experiments with those glass prisms. He realised that when plain white sunlight shines through a prism, it actually bends and splits into a beautiful rainbow of different colours.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Wait, what does that mean? The white sunlight actually had a whole rainbow hiding inside it. Exactly!

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Before that, people thought the glass itself was somehow colouring the light. But Newton proved that white light is actually made up of all the colours of the rainbow mixed together, and the prism just separates them.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Whoa! So every time I see a rainbow, I'm actually seeing white sunlight that got split apart by raindrops.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

You got it! But his biggest wonder of all started in his own garden, sitting near a very famous, gnarled old tree. So, close your eyes and picture this. It's a warm afternoon. Newton is sitting quietly in the garden at Wallsthorpe Manor, just thinking.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Wait, wait, wait. Is this the part where the famous apple falls out of the tree and bonks him right on the head?

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Actually, no. That's a huge myth that people have been telling for hundreds of years.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

What? No headbonk? Are you serious? My whole life is a lie.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

I know, but the real documented story is even cooler. A friend of his named William Stukeley wrote down exactly what Newton told him years later, in 1726. What did he actually say happened? Did he even see an apple? Yes, he did. Stukeley wrote that they were drinking tea outside, under the shade of some apple trees. Newton said he was in a contemplative mood, which means he was deep in thought, when he saw an apple fall to the ground near him.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Okay, so he just saw it fall. Why was that a big deal? Apples fall off trees all the time, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Right, but it was the specific question he asked himself next that changed history. He looked at that fallen fruit and thought, why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground? Perpendicully? What does that mean? Perpendicularly means falling perfectly straight down at a 90 degree angle. He wondered, why doesn't the apple fall sideways, or diagonally, or even float upwards?

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Well, because it's heavy. Heavy things fall down.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

But why does heavy mean down? Newton realised the apple goes down because it's constantly drawn to the Earth's centre.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Oh, because the Earth is actually pulling it like a giant invisible magnet.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Yes, he figured out there must be a drawing power in the matter of the earth itself, and that pulling force comes right from its core. Every object pulls on every other object, but he didn't stop there. Newton looked up from the fallen apple, past the leaves and branches of the tree, all the way up into the daytime sky, and saw the moon.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

The moon!

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Wait, did he think the moon was falling too? You nailed it! The moon is about 238,855 miles away from Earth, and it's massive. About 2,159 miles wide. Imagine a giant sphere of rock floating in the dark emptiness of space.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

That's huge! And really far. It takes astronauts days to fly there in a rocket. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Newton wondered: if the Earth's invisible gravity reaches the top of an apple tree and the top of the highest mountain, why couldn't it reach 238,855 miles all the way into space?

SPEAKER_00 7:08

That is blowing my mind. He connected a tiny three-ounce piece of fruit in his yard to a giant rock floating in space.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

That's the genius of it! He realised the moon is constantly being pulled toward Earth by the exact same force. But because the moon is moving sideways so incredibly fast, about 2,288 miles per hour, it basically keeps missing the ground.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Wait, it's falling but missing the Earth. That's what an orbit is.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Yes, it's constantly curving around the Earth. He called this universal gravitation, because it applies to the whole universe.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

So he figured this all out in the garden, told everyone, and became super famous instantly.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Nope. To prove it to other scientists, he had to do the exact math. But here's the crazy part. The math he needed literally did not exist yet.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

So what did he do? Did he just give up and go back to farming?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

No way! He invented a completely new, incredibly complicated type of math called calculus, just to solve the problem. He invented math? That's like a superpower. It took him years. Finally, in 1687, he published a massive three-volume book called The Principia Mathematica.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Three volumes? That must have taken forever to write.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

He worked so intensely on it for 18 straight months that he sometimes forgot to eat or sleep. He barely left his room. Did that giant book actually change the world? It completely revolutionised science forever! His math explained how the planets orbit the sun, how the moon's gravity creates the tides in our oceans, and how comets travel through the solar system.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

That's incredible. So he basically gave us the instruction manual for the universe.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

He really did. And get this. Over 280 years later, when NASA wanted to send the Apollo astronauts to the Moon, they used Newton's exact same math to calculate the rocket's launch.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

His equations are still used today. All because of an apple falling in his yard and some really hard math.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yep. But Newton wasn't just a genius. He was also a pretty quirky and intense guy. Are you ready for some weird facts? Always. Give me the weird stuff. Well, later in life he served in the British Parliament as a politician for a whole year, representing Cambridge University.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

I bet he gave the most brilliant, amazing speeches ever, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Actually, he only spoke one single time on record during his whole time in Parliament. He stood up, the whole room got quiet to hear the great genius speak, and he asked an usher to please close a window because he felt a cold draught.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

No way! His only political speech was close the window.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yep, he was much more interested in science. Like his experiments with light. To see how our eyes perceive colour, he once carefully applied physical pressure to his own eyeball to study the effects on his vision.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Ew, ow, ew, ew! Kids, do not try that at home. That sounds so incredibly uncomfortable. Why would he do that?

SPEAKER_01 10:35

I know, absolutely do not try it. He was pressing on his eye to see if the pressure caused him to see coloured rings. He didn't hurt his eyes, thankfully, but it proves he was willing to do absolutely anything for an experiment.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

He sounds like a mad scientist.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

He kind of was. He also spent years studying alchemy, secretly trying to invent the philosopher's stone to turn lead into gold. He was a very complex guy. Alright, Finn, it's quiz time! Let's see how much you remember from today's episode.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Okay, I'm ready. Give me the questions.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

First question. What was the name of the farm where Newton stayed during the plague? Next one. What type of math did Newton invent to explain gravity? Question three. How far away is the moon in miles? Here's number four. What was the name of his famous book published in 1687? Last question. What was the only thing he asked for when he spoke in Parliament? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is Woolsthorpe Manor. For question two, he invented calculus. Number three, the answer is 238,855 miles. Question four. The book is called Principia Mathematica. And the final answer is, he asked an usher to close a drafty window. That was incredible!

SPEAKER_00 12:27

I still can't believe he invented a totally new type of math just to measure gravity and explain the whole universe.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

And that he connected a simple falling apple to the moon. Science is just amazing. If you love discovering the universe with us, please leave us a five-star review.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Yeah, just scroll down on your podcast app and tap those five stars. Tell us if you think Isaac Newton and his wild experiments are as cool as we do.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

And don't forget to head over to our site kidopoly.com for tons of fun learning games and cool stuff to explore.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Plus, if you want your name shouted out on the show, just like Isaac today, have a grown-up email us at hello at kidopoly.com.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Thanks for listening, everyone. Keep wondering, keep exploring. See you next time on Science Is Not Boring. Bye.