This is a widely known legend about Isaac Newton, which states that he discovered the law of gravity after an apple fell on his head. However, the truth is not quite that simple.
Isaac Newton is one of the greatest scientists in human history. For a long time, we have heard the tale that while Newton was sitting under an apple tree, an apple fell and hit him on the head. This was the “eureka moment” that led him to suddenly think of the law of gravity—one of his most significant studies. This intriguing story has been passed down through generations, associating genius with the apple, and it has inspired creativity and learning everywhere.
But did things actually happen this way? Over the past 400 years, many people have questioned how such an accidental event has been remembered in such detail. Could this just be an imaginative story designed to make the law of gravity easier to remember and understand?
Isaac Newton was born in 1642 near Grantham, England, the son of a farmer. He was admitted to the prestigious University of Cambridge in 1661. Four years later, due to a plague outbreak, the school temporarily closed, forcing Newton to return to his childhood home, Woolsthorpe Manor. It was during this time that he was in the orchard and witnessed an apple fall from a tree. There is no evidence to suggest that the apple actually struck Newton’s head.
Isaac Newton.
However, Newton’s observation led him to ponder why apples always fall straight down to the ground (rather than sideways or upward). This experience indeed inspired him to eventually develop his law of universal gravitation. In 1687, Newton first published this principle, stating that every object in the universe is attracted to every other object with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. The law was presented in a groundbreaking research report titled “Principia”. In “Principia,” he also outlined his three laws of motion.
In 1726, Newton shared the anecdote about the apple with William Stukeley, who later included it in his biography “Memoirs of the Life of Sir Isaac Newton,” published in 1752. According to Stukeley, the story of the apple falling on Newton’s head was recounted quite simply: “After dinner, on a warm day, we went into the garden to drink tea in the shade of a few apple trees. He told me that he had been in a similar situation when the idea of gravitational force came to him. It was when the scientist was sitting in a contemplative mood that an apple happened to fall.”
The law of gravity is immensely significant in the history of physics.
Thus, it turns out that the story of the apple is partly true; while not entirely accurate, it is certainly not imaginary. The apple may not have hit Newton’s head, but many people have chosen to interpret the story that way for simplicity.
In reality, Newton did not “discover” gravity. According to Science, other researchers had conducted experiments on it and attempted to define why objects fall toward the Earth instead of floating away. Newton was simply the first to articulate a comprehensive law of universal gravitation.
The brilliant mathematician and physicist passed away in 1727 and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London. His famous apple tree continues to thrive at Woolsthorpe Manor, his childhood home. Generations of his family have cared for the only apple tree in the garden. In 1816, “Newton’s apple tree” was still standing despite being struck down in a storm. Some branches were removed, but a large part of the tree remained and grew back. Remarkably, this tree is still growing at Woolsthorpe Manor today and is now over 350 years old.
“Newton’s apple tree” has stood the test of time for nearly four centuries.
