|
|
Newton's Dark Secrets
|
|
|
|
Program Overview
|
|
|
NOVA
presents the life and science of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), one of the
greatest scientists who ever lived.
The program:
chronicles Newton's upbringing in the early part of the Scientific
Revolution. recounts Newton's attendance at Trinity College at Cambridge University
in England, where he studied the latest scientific ideas, and his return to his
hometown of Woolsthorpe four years later when the plague struck Cambridge. reviews the advances Newton made in gravity, calculus, and the
composition of light while he was at Woolsthorpe. relates Newton's return to Cambridge, where he was appointed the Lucasian
Professor of Mathematics, a chair currently held by physicist Stephen
Hawking. reports how Newton solved the problem of chromatic aberration in
refracting telescopes by designing and building a reflecting telescope based on
mirrors rather than lenses. recounts Newton's election to the Royal Society and details the
contentious relationship between Newton and fellow society member Robert Hooke,
who accused Newton of stealing his ideas. explores Newton's interests in alchemy and religion. explains Newton's concepts of the inverse square law, the laws of motion,
and gravity. describes the 1687 publication of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica, a work generally acknowledged as the greatest scientific book
ever written. relates how Newton had what some believe was a nervous breakdown;
following his recovery, he takes a job as warden of the Mint in London. reports how Newton published his second great work, Opticks, the
year after Hooke died. concludes by noting how, more than 250 years after his death, a new
picture of Newton—as scientist, alchemist, and theologian—is
emerging.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program is taped off the air.
|
|
