Isaac Newton and the story of the apple

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The story of how Newton came up with his gravitational theory is one of the most familiar in the history of science. He was sitting in the orchard at Woolsthorpe, thinking deep thoughts, when an apple fell from a tree. And all at once, Newton realised that the force of gravity pulling the apple down to the ground must be the same as the force that holds the moon in orbit around the earth. But was that really how he came up with his great idea? These days, historians of science don’t fall for cosy eureka stories like this. Rather they say that new understanding comes slowly, through hard graft, false trails, and failed ideas. Philip Ball tells the story of the life and ideas of Isaac Newton, who was born on Christmas Day in 1642. Philip discusses with historian of science Anna Marie Roos of the University of Lincoln, just 30 miles north of Woolsthorpe, how Newton developed his theory of gravity . And he talks to Tom McLeish of the University of York, the author of a book about creativity in science and art, about his observation that many scientists today do think they have had eureka moments. (Image: Isaac Newton under his apple-tree. Credit: API/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and trust me you'll get there in a moment but if you're a comedy fan
0:05.2	I'd really like to tell you a bit about what we do. I'm Julie Mackenzie and I commission comedy
0:10.1	podcast at the BBC. It's a bit of a dream job really. Comedy is a bit of a dream job really.
0:13.0	Comedy is a fantastic joyous thing to do because really you're making people laugh,
0:18.0	making people's days a bit better, helping them process, all manner of things.
0:22.0	But you know, I also know that comedy is really
0:24.3	subjective and everyone has different tastes. So we've got a huge range of comedy on offer from
0:29.8	satire to silly, shocking to soothing, profound to just general pratting about.
0:35.0	So if you fancy a laugh, find your next comedy at BBC Sounds.
0:40.0	Okay, here we've had a problem here.
0:42.0	I knew we were in deep trouble. I literally got on my knees and prayed.
0:47.0	Thirteen minutes to the moon, season two, coming soon.
0:52.0	I'm Philip Ball and today on Discovery from the BBC I'm here with another story from
0:58.0	the history of science.
1:00.1	Isaac Newton transformed our vision of the Cosmos.
1:03.3	He clarified the laws that govern how things move
1:06.4	and supplied a theory of gravity that persisted unchallenged
1:10.2	until Albert Einstein replaced it in the early 20th century.
1:14.0	The story of how Newton came up with his gravitational theory
1:18.0	is one of the most familiar in the history of science.
1:21.0	There he was, sitting in the orchard at Wolfsorp thinking deep
1:25.6	thoughts when an apple fell from a tree. And all at once Newton realized that
	...

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