The Apple Incident
It was 1666, during the time of the plague epidemic, when Isaac Newton sat under an apple tree in his mother’s garden in Lincolnshire, pondering the physics behind the orbit of the planets. It was while he sat thus, in complete serenity, that a rogue apple fell from tree under which he was sitting and struck him on the head. It was in this instant, through observing the fall of an apple, that Isaac Newton experienced a momentary and came up with his revolutionary theory of gravity.
This anecdote is one of the most famous in the history of science. Though it may well be greatly embellished by its storytellers, including Newton himself, it provides an idea of where the law of gravity was born. It is unknown whether the apple did in fact strike Newton on the head, or if he simply observed its motion from afar. Furthermore, there is speculation about whether this incident really was the birthplace of Newton’s theory of gravity. Newton left no written account confirming or contradicting these speculations, however there are documents written by others who had spoken to him in his later years, suggesting that he did in fact find his inspiration in the fall of an apple. No matter what the true details are, this “apple incident” serves as proof that inspiration can be hidden in even the most unlikely of corners.
This anecdote is one of the most famous in the history of science. Though it may well be greatly embellished by its storytellers, including Newton himself, it provides an idea of where the law of gravity was born. It is unknown whether the apple did in fact strike Newton on the head, or if he simply observed its motion from afar. Furthermore, there is speculation about whether this incident really was the birthplace of Newton’s theory of gravity. Newton left no written account confirming or contradicting these speculations, however there are documents written by others who had spoken to him in his later years, suggesting that he did in fact find his inspiration in the fall of an apple. No matter what the true details are, this “apple incident” serves as proof that inspiration can be hidden in even the most unlikely of corners.
Author: Hannah Davies