The great English scientist Isaak Newton was born in the village of Woolthorpe, not far from the university town of Cambridge on December 25,1642. Little Isaak was left to the care of his mother, grandmother and uncle who" sent him to school. In his early years young Isaak showed more as one who could make things with his hand then a scholar. He made various things. He made a clock that worked by water. He also made a sundial. When Isaak grew older, he took a consider-able interest in mathematics. His ability as mathematician and physicist was very important. His first physical experiment was carried out when he was sixteen years old.
On June 5,1661 Newton entered the University of Cambridge where he studied mathematics. Soon he became famous for his contribution to mathematics by that time he was twenty-one. When Newton was twenty-two years old he began studying the theory of gravitation. In 1665, while he .was on a visit in his native village, he saw an apple fall from a tree and began wondering what force made the apple fall
At Cambridge Newton read with great interest the writings of Galileo, he knew the geometry of Descartes, he worked out the methods of calculus. So when he began to think "of gravity extending to the orb of the moon" he immediately put this idea to the test of calculation. Newton performed many experiments with light and found that white light was made up of rays of different colours. He invented a reflecting telescope, that was very small in diameter but magnified objects to forty diameters. Newton developed a mathematical method which is known as the Binomial Theorem and also differential and integral caculus.
In 1669 Newton was appointed professor end began lectures on mathematics and optics at Cambridge and continued his work on the problem of gravitation. In 1673 Newton gathered together ail his earlier calculations and succeeded in completing his whole theory. He examined the attraction of one mass by another. He showed that a massive sphere here attracts another as if the whole mass were in the centre. This was of great importance. It enabled Newton to treat the problems of the sun, moon and earth like problems of geometry. He at last justified the method of treatment which he had first adopted for the problem of the earth and moon The proof of his universe square law was not complete. He had demonstrated that the gravitation pull of the earth extends as far as the moon and keeps it in its orbit.He demonstrated that his pull is in accordance with the same law as that by which a stone fails to the ground, namely gravity. Newton's great work "Elements of Natural Philosophy" was published only in the middle of 1687.
Newton's law of universe squares joined in one simple mathematical statement the behaviour of the planets as well as 42 of bodies on this earth. It was the first synthesis of physical knowledge. As such his contribution to science is unique. Isaak Newton died in 1727 at the age of 85. He was buried with honours as a national hero. It was the first time that national honours of this kind had been accorded in England to a man of science.
One of my favourite writers is Charles Dickens. He was born near Portsmouth on February 7, 1812. He was the second of eight children. His father was a clerk. The Dickens family although not poor by the standards of the time lived through a series of financial crises.
In 1823 facing financial ruin, the family moved to London, where Charles began to work in a blacking warehouse for six shillings a week. At that time his father was arrested for debt After three months in prison John Dickens was released by having himself declared an Insolvent Debtor. Charles was sent to school at the age of twelve, where he did well, and at the age of fifteen began to work in the office of a legal firm.
After learning short hand he became a freelance reporter. His career was prospering with his rapid and accurate reporting of debates in the House of Commons for the "Morning Chronicle". At that time he began to write novels. "The Pickwick Papers" was Dickens' first novel. It was originally serialized in 1836-1837. In a book form it was published in November 17, 1837. This book is considered to be Dickens' greatest novel. Charles Dickens wrote a lot of novels. His masterpieces are: "Oliver Twist" (1837 - 1838), "Nickolas Nickleby" (1838-1839), "David Copperfield" (1849 - 1850) "Little Dorrit" (1837 - 1838), "Great Expectations" (1860-1861).
Charles Dickens wrote about ordinary people, whose life he knew very well. Dickens worked very hard. His health began to fail In mid-1860s. He suffered a stroke at his home at Gad's Hill, near Rochester, Kent in June 1870 and died the next day.