Isaac Newton's apple tree

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Isaac Newton's apple tree
Tree in Woolsthorpe Manor claimed to be Newton's tree.
SpeciesFlower of Kent, Malus domestica
Coordinates52°48′32.7″N 00°37′51″W / 52.809083°N 0.63083°W / 52.809083; -0.63083
Date seeded1666 (1666) (original)
1820; 205 years ago (1820) (regrown)
Date felled1816; 149–150 years (original)
CustodianNational Trust
Websitewww.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/woolsthorpe-manor

Isaac Newton's apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor[1][2] is believed to be the tree (or a descendent of the tree) that Sir Isaac Newton said inspired him to formulate his theory of gravity on seeing an apple falling from it. The famous tree, a member of the Flower of Kent variety, was likely blown down by a storm around 1816 but regrew from its original roots and is now maintained by the National Trust. Its descendants and clones can be found in various locations worldwide.

Significance

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Isaac Newton's apple tree became significant as a consequence of Newton's claim that his law of gravitation was inspired by an apple falling from the tree. Newton himself told the story that he was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree.[3][4] The story is believed to have passed into popular knowledge after being related by Catherine Barton, Newton's niece, to Voltaire.[5] Voltaire then wrote in his Essay on Epic Poetry (1727), "Sir Isaac Newton walking in his gardens, had the first thought of his system of gravitation, upon seeing an apple falling from a tree."[6][7][8][9] The story of the apple tree thus became ingrained in popular culture.[10][11]

Acquaintances of Newton recorded his recollection of the incident, though not the meritless version that the apple actually hit him on the head.[12][13] William Stukeley, whose manuscript account of 1752 has been made available by the Royal Society, recorded a conversation with Newton in Kensington on 15 April 1726:[10][14]

we went into the garden, & drank thea under the shade of some appletrees, only he, & myself. amidst other discourse, he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. "why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground," thought he to him self: occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a comtemplative mood: "why should it not go sideways, or upwards? but constantly to the earths centre? assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. there must be a drawing power in matter. & the sum of the drawing power in the matter of the earth must be in the earths center, not in any side of the earth. therefore dos this apple fall perpendicularly, or toward the center. if matter thus draws matter; it must be in proportion of its quantity. therefore the apple draws the earth, as well as the earth draws the apple."

John Conduitt, Newton's assistant at the Royal Mint and husband of Newton's niece, also described the event when he wrote about Newton's life:[15]

In the year 1666 he retired again from Cambridge to his mother in Lincolnshire. Whilst he was pensively meandering in a garden it came into his thought that the power of gravity (which brought an apple from a tree to the ground) was not limited to a certain distance from earth, but that this power must extend much further than was usually thought. Why not as high as the Moon said he to himself & if so, that must influence her motion & perhaps retain her in her orbit, whereupon he fell a calculating what would be the effect of that supposition.

In their book about Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley, British science writers Mary and John Gribbin assert that Newton simply made it up,[16] because, in 1666, Newton's theory at that time[17] of the nature of gravity would not have encompassed it. In their view, either the elderly Newton had forgotten that he had once posited it as an explanatory analogy or (more probably) because he would not admit that he got the concept of universal gravity from Hooke's 1674 lecture. The Gribbin book was criticized in a review published in the American Journal of Physics as making false claims about Newton.[18] Many scholar have discussed Newton–Hooke priority controversy for the inverse square law, generally concluding that the inverse square law concept was known before Newton and that Hooke's lecture did advance the idea, but it was Newton's mathematical proof that made it a scientific breakthrough.[19]

The tree

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The story behind Newton's apple tree can be traced back to Newton's time at Woolsthorpe Manor, his family estate in Lincolnshire, England.[20][1][2] The staff of the (now) National Trust claims a tree at Woolsthorpe Manor is Newton's tree.[21] During his stay at the manor in 1665 or 1666, it is believed that Newton observed an apple falling from a tree and began pondering the forces that govern such motion.[10] Detailed analysis of historical accounts backed up by dendrochronology and DNA analysis indicate that the sole apple tree in garden, having blown over in at storm sometime around 1816, regrew from is roots and continues to live at Woolsthorpe Manor.[1]

Cross section of apples from Isaac Newton's Tree, National Fruit Collection

The apple tree is of the Flower of Kent variety.[22] The apple tree still exists today at Woolsthorpe Manor, and it is attended by gardeners, secured with a fence, and cared for by National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty.[21][23]

In culture

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Newton statue on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History

A statue of Isaac Newton, looking at an apple at his feet, can be seen at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The tree was chosen as one of the 50 Great British Trees in 2012, the year of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.[24]

I'll take it up and let it float around for a bit, which will confuse Isaac

Piers Sellers on his plan for 10cm sample during the mission, Economic Times[25][26]

On 14 May 2010, British-born NASA astronaut Piers Sellers took a 10cm fragment of the Newton's apple tree into space as part of the celebrations for the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society, of which Newton was a former president. The tree sample, engraved with Newton's name, was originally taken from the Royal Society's archives and entrusted to Piers Sellers for his 12-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station (ISS).[27][28] After the mission, both the tree sample and the picture was returned to the Royal Society and became part of a historical exhibition.[29]

Seeds of the tree were sent by the European Space Agency into space to the International Space Station on the 2014-15 Principia mission with astronaut Tim Peake.[24][30] As part of the "Pips in Space" research, the seeds floated in microgravity for six months before returning to Earth in 2016 to be raised into young trees.[31] Winners of a competition to host one of the unique seedlings include the National Physical Laboratory,[32] Jodrell Bank Observatory, and the Eden Project.[31] A tree at that was likely cloned from The Woolsthorpe Manor tree is maintained at the US National Bureau of Standards.[33].In 2023, 10 saplings from the tree were auctioned to support the upkeep of Woolsthorpe Manor.[34]

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Keesing, R. G. (1 May 1998). "The history of Newton's apple tree". Contemporary Physics. 39 (5): 377–391. Bibcode:1998ConPh..39..377K. doi:10.1080/001075198181874. ISSN 0010-7514. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Visitors gravitate to Newton's apple tree in Grantham". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  3. ^ White, Michael; Newton, Isaac (1997). Isaac Newton: the last sorcerer. London: Fourth Estate. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-85702-416-6.
  4. ^ Numbers, Ronald L.; Kampourakis, Kostas (4 November 2015). Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science. Harvard University Press. pp. 46–52. ISBN 978-0-674-91547-3. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  5. ^ Malament, David B. (2002). Reading Natural Philosophy: Essays in the History and Philosophy of Science and Mathematics. Open Court Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8126-9507-6. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  6. ^ Voltaire (1727). An Essay upon the Civil Wars of France, extracted from curious Manuscripts and also upon the Epick Poetry of the European Nations, from Homer down to Milton. London, England: Samuel Jallasson. p. 104. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021. From p. 104: 'In the like Manner Pythagoras ow'd the Invention of Musik to the noise of the Hammer of a Blacksmith. And thus in our Days Sir Isaak Newton walking in his Garden had the first Thought of his System of Gravitation, upon seeing an apple falling from a Tree.'
  7. ^ Voltaire (1786) heard the story of Newton and the apple tree from Newton's niece, Catherine Conduit (née Barton) (1679–1740): Voltaire (1786). Oeuvres completes de Voltaire [The complete works of Voltaire] (in French). Vol. 31. Basel, Switzerland: Jean-Jacques Tourneisen. p. 175. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021. From p. 175: "Un jour en l'année 1666, Newton retiré à la campagne, et voyant tomber des fruits d'un arbre, à ce que m'a conté sa nièce, (Mme Conduit) se laissa aller à une méditation profonde sur la cause qui entraine ainsi tous les corps dans une ligne, qui, si elle était prolongée, passerait à peu près par le centre de la terre." (One day in the year 1666 Newton withdrew to the country, and seeing the fruits of a tree fall, according to what his niece (Madame Conduit) told me, he entered into a deep meditation on the cause that draws all bodies in a [straight] line, which, if it were extended, would pass very near to the center of the Earth.)
  8. ^ McKie, Douglas; De Beer, Gavin Rylands (January 1997). "Newton's apple". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 9 (1): 46–54. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1951.0003.
  9. ^ McKie, D.; de Beer, G. R. (1952). "Newton's Apple: An Addendum". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 9 (2): 333–335. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1952.0020. ISSN 0035-9149. JSTOR 3087221. S2CID 144544715.
  10. ^ a b c Gefter, Amanda Gefter (18 January 2010). "Newton's apple: The real story". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  11. ^ Conocimiento, Ventana al (18 March 2021). "The Legend of Newton's Apple Tree | OpenMind's Puzzles". OpenMind. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  12. ^ "newtons-apple-tree". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life by William Stukeley, page 15". Royal Society, "Turning the pages". Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Revised Memoir of Newton (Normalized Version)". The Newton Project. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  15. ^ Conduitt, John. "Keynes Ms. 130.4:Conduitt's account of Newton's life at Cambridge". Newtonproject. Imperial College London. Archived from the original on 7 November 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2006.
  16. ^ Gribbin, John; Gribbin, Mary (2017). Out of the shadow of a giant: Hooke, Halley and the birth of British science. London: William Collins. pp. 165–175. ISBN 978-0-00-822059-4. OCLC 966239842.
  17. ^ Turnbull, H W, ed. (1960). "150 Newton to Oldenberg". Correspondence of Isaac Newton. Vol. 1 (1661-1675). Cambridge University Press. OCLC 769886773.
  18. ^ Nauenberg, Michael (1 January 2018). "Out of the Shadow of a Giant: Hooke, Halley & the Birth of Science". American Journal of Physics. 86 (1): 79–80. doi:10.1119/1.5012509. ISSN 0002-9505.
  19. ^ Rowlands, Peter (2017). Newton And The Great World System. World Scientific Publishing. pp. 139–140, 146, 148–150. ISBN 9781786343758.
  20. ^ "How Isaac Newton's Apple Tree Spread Across the World". Atlas Obscura. 26 June 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Woolsthorpe Manor | Lincolnshire". National Trust. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  22. ^ "Isaac Newton's Tree". National Fruit Collection. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  23. ^ Staff, Times (27 June 2023). "Gravity of damage facing Newton's tree prompts action". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Newton's apple tree has descendants and clones all over the world". Big Think. 15 November 2022. Archived from the original on 2 July 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Newton's apple tree bound for gravity-free space". The Economic Times. 8 May 2010. ISSN 0013-0389. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Newton's apple tree off to zero gravity". The Denver Post. Associated Press. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  27. ^ Luscombe, Richard (9 May 2010). "Isaac Newton's apple tree to experience zero gravity – in space". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  28. ^ "Newton's famous apple tree to experience zero gravity | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  29. ^ "Newton tree sample set for space". BBC. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  30. ^ Blenkin, Max (13 January 2020). "Newton's apple tree seeds from space propagated into saplings". www.spaceconnectonline.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  31. ^ a b "Trees planted grown from seeds that went into space". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  32. ^ "One of Newton". NPLWebsite. 13 January 2020. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  33. ^ Gould, Richard G. (2002). "Isaac Newton's Apple Trees". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 88 (3/4): 103–112. ISSN 0043-0439. JSTOR 24531138. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  34. ^ "Isaac Newton apple tree saplings auctioned in UK first". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
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