“If a projectile were deprived of the force of gravity, it would not be deflected toward the earth but would go off in a straight line into the heavens and do so with uniform motion, provided that the resistance of the air were removed.”

English mathematician and physicist

Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, physicist and natural philosopher of the 17th and 18th centuries. He is best known for shaping classical mechanics and for his central role in the Scientific Revolution. His Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, first published in 1687, set out the laws that unified much of physics in one framework. He also made major contributions to optics and to the development of calculus, and his work helped define the scientific method and the rise of modern science.