Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire
This collection has 626 items online
Woolsthorpe Manor is not your average seventeenth century farmhouse – it’s the place where Isaac Newton was born, was inspired by the land around him and changed the way we see the world with his work on light, gravity and maths. When we look at the graffiti on the walls of the Manor we envisage a young Isaac planning his next 'strange invention' such as his windmill powered by a mouse miller. In 1665-66, 350 years ago Isaac returned to Woolsthorpe leaving behind plague-hit Cambridge. And it was here he worked on his most well-known achievement: his theory of gravity in what he called his ‘Year of Wonders'. From his room we can see the apple tree in the orchard that inspired his theory of gravity. Here he used prisms to split white light, imagine him measuring from wall to shutter and his delight at the rainbow he created. His Laws of Motion which set out much of the groundwork for the Principia Mathematica were formulated during this time. Thanks to his work we can navigate the world, travel to space and explore the universe. The wonders of his discoveries can still be felt within the Manor and its collection