Sir Godfrey Kneller’s portrait of Sir Isaac Newton

On 8 February 1672, Sir Isaac Newton read his first Optics paper before the Royal Society in London.

This paper dealt with color, light, and optics. Although he is recognized as an incredibly influential figure today, this paper was controversial at the time among his peers. Many scientists and mathematicians of the time disagreed with his ideas and they were often disputed.

This controversy sparked the beginning of Newton’s greatest rivalry with the head of the Royal Society, Robert Hooke. Newton believed light was made up of particles while Hooke argued that it was composed of waves instead. Newton thought that if light existed in the form of a wave, then it should be able to bend around corners. When you see a shadow, you recognize that light cannot bend around corners, or else your shadow would not be there. Sound was already known to be made up of waves and sound waves have the ability to bend, which is why you can hear sounds coming from another room. Newton did not have it completely figured out at this time, but he was on the right track.

The controversy lasted about six years and Newton published more papers during this time. He was still receiving criticism over his work, mostly coming from Hooke, who accused him of plagiarism. Hooke’s accusations were found to be false, but a frustrated Newton threatened to leave the Royal Society until some of his colleagues convinced him that he was highly regarded in their circle despite the criticism he took for his research.
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Eventually, Newton became so emotionally distraught that he cut himself off from the rest of society and began more research, mostly dealing with alchemy, which was very popular at the time. Some scholars of Newton consider this work an embarrassment, but practicing alchemy at the time could have been considered an attempt at understanding the hidden forces of nature. In the end, though, Newton’s ideas on mechanics can be linked back to his studies on alchemy and his theory of an invisible, yet measurable force, gravity. It turned out that his rival, Hooke, was actually the one who helped him on the path to his research on gravity.

–Robert Parks

Meet the Author

I graduated from Northville High School in the class of 2014 and then became a student at Schoolcraft College. I am interested in many different subjects and activities, such as athletics, music, writing, and history, among others.