Sir Isaac Newton The Ingenious Scientist (Prose)

Sir Isaac Newton – The Ingenious Scientist

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Warm Up

In pairs, identify the great thinkers of the world and write their names from the box.

Buddha, C. V. Raman, Plato, Einstein, Vivekananda, Aristotle, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Socrates

Section I – Reading

On Christmas-day, in the year 1642, Isaac Newton was born at the small village of Woolsthorpe in England. Little did his mother think, when she beheld her new-born babe, that he was destined to explain many matters which had been a mystery ever since the creation of the world.

Isaac's father being dead, Mrs. Newton was married again to a clergyman, and went to reside at North Witham. Isaac was left to the care of his good old grandmother, who was very kind to him, and sent him to school. In his early years, Isaac was chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity in all mechanical occupations. He had a set of little tools, and saws of various sizes, manufactured by himself. With the aid of these, Isaac contrived to make many curious articles, at which he worked with so much skill, that he seemed to have been born with a saw or chisel in his hand.

The neighbors looked with vast admiration at the things which Isaac manufactured. And his old grandmother, I suppose, was never weary of talking about him.

"He'll make a capital workman, one of these days," she would probably say. "No fear but what Isaac will do well in the world, and be a rich man before he dies."

Some of his friends, no doubt, advised Isaac's grandmother to apprentice him to a clockmaker; for, besides his mechanical skill, the boy seemed to have a taste for mathematics, which would be very useful to him in that profession. And then, in due time, Isaac would set up for himself, and would manufacture curious clocks, like those that contain sets of dancing figures, which issue from the dial-plate when the hour is struck; or like those, where a ship sails across the face of the clock, and is seen tossing up and down on the waves, as often as the pendulum vibrates.

Indeed, there was some ground for supposing that Isaac would devote himself to the manufacture of clocks; since he had already made one, of a kind which nobody had ever heard of before. It was set a-going, not by wheels and weights, like other clocks, but by the dropping of water. This was an object of great wonderment to all the people in the neighborhood; and it must be confessed that there are few boys, or men either, who could contrive to tell what o'clock it is, by means of a bowl of water.

Besides the water-clock, Isaac made a sun-dial. Thus his grandmother was never at a loss to know the hour; for the water-clock would tell it in the shade, and the dial in the sunshine. The sun-dial is said to be still in existence at Woolsthorpe, on the corner of the house where Isaac dwelt.

Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring knowledge by the simplest means. For instance, what method do you suppose he took, to find out the strength of the wind? He jumped against the wind; and by the length of his jump, he could calculate the force of a gentle breeze, a brisk gale, or a tempest. Thus, even in his boyish sports, he was continually searching out the secrets of philosophy.

Not far from his grandmother's residence there was a windmill, which operated on a new plan. Isaac was in the habit of going thither frequently, and would spend whole hours in examining its various parts. While the mill was at rest, he pried into its internal machinery. When its broad sails were set in motion by the wind, he watched the process by which the mill-stones were made to revolve, and crush the grain that was put into the hopper. After gaining a thorough knowledge of its construction, he was observed to be unusually busy with his tools.

It was not long before his grandmother, and all the neighborhood, knew what Isaac had been about. He had constructed a model of the windmill. Though not so large, I suppose, as one of the box-traps which boys set to catch squirrels, yet every part of the mill and its machinery was complete. Its little sails were neatly made of linen, and whirled round very swiftly when the mill was placed in a draught of air. Even a puff of wind from Isaac's mouth, or from a pair of bellows, was sufficient to set the sails in motion. And what was most curious, if a handful of grains of wheat were put into the little hopper, they would soon be converted into snow-white flour.

Glossary

• ingenuity (n) – the ability to invent things / creativity
• contrived (v) – created / invented
• apprentice (v) – works for someone to learn skill
• acquiring (v) – getting knowledge or skill
• pried (v) – investigated
• hopper (n) – funnel shaped bins for feeding grains into mills

Read and Understand

A. Fill in the blanks.

1. Isaac Newton was born at ____.
2. Grandmother was advised to apprentice Newton to a ____.
3. Isaac made a clock, by the dropping of ____.
4. The sun-dial made by Isaac is still in existence at ____.
5. Isaac constructed a model of the ____.

B. Choose the correct synonyms for the italicized words.

1. Isaac was chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity.
   a. common b. notable c. neglected d. unknown

2. He will make a capital workman.
   a. wealth b. excellent c. profitable d. head

3. Nobody could tell what the sunlight was composed of.
   a. made b. known c. full d. felt

4. He cared little for earthly fame and honors.
   a. disrespect b. attraction c. proud d. popularity

Section II – Reading

Isaac's playmates were enchanted with his new windmill. They thought that nothing so pretty, and so wonderful, had ever been seen in the whole world.

"But, Isaac," said one of them, "you have forgotten one thing that belongs to a mill."
"What is that?" asked Isaac; for he supposed, that, from the roof of the mill to its foundation, he had forgotten nothing.
"Why, where is the miller?" said his friend.
"That is true!—I must look out for one," said Isaac; and he set himself to consider how the deficiency should be supplied.

He might easily have made the miniature figure of a man; but then it would not have been able to move about, and perform the duties of a miller. But perhaps some two-legged millers are quite as dishonest as this small quadruped.

As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far more important matters in his mind than the manufacture of toys, like the little windmill. All day long, if left to himself, he was either absorbed in thought, or engaged in some book of mathematics, or natural philosophy. At night, I think it probable, he looked up with reverential curiosity to the stars, and wondered whether they were worlds, like our own,—and how great was their distance from the earth,—and what was the power that kept them in their courses. Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac Newton felt a presentiment that he should be able, hereafter, to answer all these questions.

When Isaac was fourteen years old, his mother's second husband being now dead, she wished her son leave school, and assist her in managing the farm at Woolsthorpe. For a year or two, therefore, he tried to turn his attention to farming. But his mind was so bent on becoming a scholar, that his mother sent him back to school, and afterwards to the University of Cambridge.

He was the first that found out the nature of Light; for, before his day, nobody could tell what the sunshine was composed of until then. You remember, I suppose, the story of an apple's falling on his head, which lead him to discover the force of gravitation and which keeps the heavenly bodies in their courses. When he had once got hold of this idea, he never permitted his mind to rest, until he had searched out all the laws, by which the planets are guided through the sky. This he did as thoroughly as if he had gone up among the stars, and tracked them in their orbits. As a boy, he had found out the mechanism of a windmill; and as a man he explained to his fellow-men the mechanism of the universe.

While researching he was accustomed to spend night after night in a lofty tower, gazing at the heavenly bodies through a telescope. His mind was lifted far above the things of this world. He may be said, indeed, to have spent the greater part of his life in worlds that lie thousands and millions of miles away; for where the thoughts and the heart are, there is our true existence.

Newton lived to be a very old man, renowned thinker and was made a Member of Parliament, and received the honor of knighthood from the king. But he cared little for earthly fame and honors, and felt no pride in the vastness of his knowledge. All that he had learned only made him feel how little he knew in comparison to what remained to be known.

"I seem to myself like a child," he observed, "playing on the sea-shore, and picking up here and there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while the boundless ocean of Truth lies undiscovered before me."

At last, in 1727, when he was 85 years old, Sir Isaac Newton died,—or rather he ceased to live on earth. We may be permitted to believe that he is still searching out the infinite wisdom and goodness of the Creator, as earnestly, and with even more success, than while his spirit animated a mortal body.

He has left a fame behind him, which will be as endurable as if his name were written in letters of light, formed by the stars upon the midnight sky.

"I love to hear about mechanical contrivances—such as the water-clock and the little windmill," remarked George. "I suppose if Sir Isaac Newton had only thought of it, he might have found out the steam-engine, and railroads, and all the other famous inventions that have come into use since his day."
"Very possibly he might," replied Mr. Temple; "and, no doubt, a great many people would think it more useful to manufacture steam-engines, than to search out the system of the universe. Other great astronomers, besides Newton, have been endowed with mechanical genius. There was David Rittenhouse, an American,—he made a perfect little water-mill, when he was only seven or eight years old. But this sort of ingenuity is but a mere trifle in comparison with the other talents of such men."

About the Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. The biography of Sir Isaac Newton was published in Nathaniel Hawthorne's, True Stories from History and Biography (1851).

Glossary

• enchanted (v) – delighted
• miniature (adj) – very small model
• curiosity (n) – eagerness
• accustomed (v) – something familiar with
• gazing (v) – looking steadily and intently
• ceased (v) – stopped

Read and Understand

A. Choose the correct antonym for the italicized word

1. His Grandmother was very kind to him.
   a. affectionate b. loving c. disrespectful d. cruel

2. The boy seemed to have a taste for mathematics.
   a. delicious b. sweet c. distaste d. against

3. Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring knowledge.
   a. owned b. controlled c. lacks d. have

4. He was observed to be usually busy with his tools.
   a. common b. rarely c. unwantedly d. usually

B. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences

1. Who was taking care of Newton after his father's death?
2. What did Isaac manufacture at his young age?
3. How did the young boy find the strength of the wind?
4. Why were his friends attracted by the windmill?
5. How was Newton honoured by the king?

C. Answer the following in about 100 words

1. Why did Newton's friends advise his grandmother to apprentice him to a clockmaker?
2. How did Newton learn about the way a windmill operated?
3. Mention some of Newton's inventions.

Vocabulary

Prefix and Suffix

Prefix

A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix un- is added to the word happy, it creates the new word unhappy.

Prefix	Root word	New Word
re-	write	rewrite
bi-	cycle	bicycle
un-	expected	unexpected

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
Re-	Again	rewrite
Un-	Not	unkind
Pre-	Before	prereading
Dis-	not	disrespect
Im-	not	impossible
Non-	not	nonsense
Mis-	wrong	misbehave

Exercise

a. Underline the prefix in each word in the boxes
unlock, rewrite, dislike, unsafe, remix, relocate, distrust, untrue, unhook, unlucky, disown, disclose

Suffix

A suffix is an affix which is placed after the root word. These suffixes can change both the meaning and grammatical function of a root word.

Root word	Suffix	New Word
happy	-ness	happiness
colour	-ful	colourful
friend	-ship	friendship

Example:
fat + er = fatter
drive + ing = driving
change + able = changeable
use + less = useless
beauty + ful = beautiful
lie + ing = lying

b. Pick a suitable prefix and suffix from the given box and complete the following words.
able, ful, ly, sub, ion, un, tri, re, im, mis

• recall
• comfortable
• subcategory
• misunderstand
• improper
• successful
• unequal
• colourful
• construction
• renew

Syllabification

Syllabication is the act, process, or method of forming or dividing words into syllables. It is splitting of words according to the syllables or unit of sounds or vowel sounds. It has six types:

1. Monosyllabic
2. Disyllabic (or) Bisyllabic
3. Trisyllabic
4. Tetrasyllabic
5. Pentasyllabic
6. Polysyllabic (or) Multisyllabic

Monosyllabic Words:

act, cat, book, head, see, all, tongue, plot, steel, wish, one, school, break, rhythm, make, life, ball, bat

Disyllabic Words:

a-gain, rub-ber, be-side, in-stead, de-lay, wo-men, pur-pose, pro-gramme, van-quish, out-break, mo-ral, di-rect, co-ward, en-ding, care-ful, sus-pect, lead-er, re-joice

Trisyllabic Words:

beau-ti-ful, to-mor-row, po-pu-lar, in-ten-tion, per-mi-ssion, e-ffec-tive, lu-per-cal, mu-ti-ny, le-ga-cy, be-lov-ed, de-part-ment, for-tu-nate, be-ne-fit, as-sem-bly, con-si-der, e-le-ment, tra-di-tion, im-pli-cit

Tetrasyllabic Words:

u-su-al-ly, mi-li-ta-ry, in-tel-li-gent, e-co-no-my, in-he-ri-ted, se-cu-ri-ty, lo-ca-li-ty, e-qua-li-ty, pub-li-ci-ty, mo-ra-li-ty, im-me-di-ate, ki-lo-me-ter, oc-cu-pa-tion, gen-er-a-tion, tech-no-lo-gy, mul-ti-me-dia, u-ni-ver-sity, par-ti-cu-lar

Pentasyllabic Words:

ex-a-mi-na-tion, com-mu-ni-ca-tion, i-ma-gi-na-tion, qua-li-fi-ca-tion, re-pre-sen-ta-tion, spe-ci-fi-ca-tion, par-ti-ci-pa-tion, in-ter-pre-ta-tion, e-va-lu-a-tion, de-ter-mi-na-tion, ac-com-mo-da-tion, re-pre-sen-ta-tive, mo-di-fi-ca-tion, per-so-na-li-ty, jus-ti-fi-ca-tion, in-i-ti-a-tive, fun-da-men-tal-ly, ne-go-ti-a-tion

Polysyllabic Words:

au-tho-ri-ta-ri-an, in-fe-ri-o-ri-ty, per-son-i-fi-ca-tion, con-sti-tu-tion-al-ly, dis-qua-li-fi-ca-tion, syl-lab-i-fi-ca-tion, en-cy-clo-pe-di-a, au-to-bi-o-gra-phy, hu-ma-ni-ta-ri-an, au-di-o-vi-su-al, in-com-pre-hen-si-ble, he-ter-o-ge-ne-ous, i-den-ti-fi-ca-tion, phy-si-o-the-ra-pist, un-de-li-ve-ra-ble, in-ter-ro-ga-to-ry, sub-sti-tu-tion-a-ry, mis-pro-nun-ci-a-tion

a. Syllabify the following words

1. education
2. school
3. college
4. english
5. opportunity
6. friend
7. teacher
8. simultaneously
9. laboratory
10. beneficiary

Listening

Listen to the passage carefully and write the answer.
1. Name the scientist.
2. What did he discover?
3. Who approached the scientist?
4. What question did the journalist ask?
5. When did they meet the scientist?

Note: The listening passage is given on page 227.

Speaking

Take a few minutes and make hints of the picture. Arrange your thoughts. Using the points you write, deliver a small speech focusing the issue picturised here. Give an interesting and informative speech. Your speech should include the cause and the solution.

Tips for Effective Speaking

• Organise your points and ideas well.
• Don’t memorise the speech. If you forget a point, it will make you nervous.
• Avoid the things that are of no value or interest to the audience.
• Before you speak, take a deep breath, smile, greet the audience.
• Don’t be nervous about making a mistake.
• Interesting speech scores off your mistakes.

Writing

A character sketch is defined as a brief written description of a character. Keep these things in mind while writing a character sketch.

1. Introduce the person.
2. Highlight his/her character as revealed in the story.
3. Talk about what others say about the character.
4. Write if the character appealed to you, and say why?
5. Support your views with evidence from text.

H) Write a character sketch of any character from a fiction that has made an impact on you.

Grammar

Prepositions

Preposition is a word or phrase that connects a noun or pronoun to a verb or adjective in a sentence.

Common Prepositions: in, on, at, to, with, during, before, after

Prepositions of Time

Time prepositions include: at, on, in, before, after. They are used to help indicate when something happened, happens or will happen.

Examples:
- I was born on July 4, 1982.
- I was born in 1982.
- I was born at exactly 2 a.m.
- I was born two minutes before my twin brother.
- I was born after the Great War ended.
- I first met John in 1987.
- It’s always cold in January
- Easter falls in spring each year.
- The Second World War occurred in the 20th century.
- We eat breakfast in the morning.

a) Fill in the blanks by using correct preposition.

1. We go to school ____ Mondays, but not on Sunday
2. Christmas falls ____ 25th December.
3. My friend gave me a gift ____ my birthday.
4. I more active ____ night.
5. Her shift gets over ____ 7 p.m.

Modal Verbs

A modal is a type of helping verb that is used to express: ability, possibility, permission or obligation like must, shall, should, will, would, can, could, may, might, dare, need.

Modal phrases (or semi-modals) are used to express the same things as modals, but are a combination of helping verbs and the preposition ought to, used to.

How to Use:

Circle the modal verbs in the list given in the box.
shall, should, will, have to, would, can, need to, could, may, ought to, might, dare, used to, need

We use modal verbs to show if we believe something is certain, probable or possible (or not). We also use modals to do things like talking about ability, asking permission.

Modal Meaning and Example

Modal	Meaning	Example
can	to express ability	I can speak a little Russian.
can	to request permission	Can I open the window?
may	to express possibility	I may be home late.
may	to request permission	May I sit down, please?
must	to express obligation	I must go now.
must	to express strong belief	She must be over 90 years old.
should	to give advice	You should stop smoking.
would	to request or offer	Would you like a cup of tea?
would	in if-sentences	If I were you, I would say sorry.

Exercise

I. Use polite request when we seek help from others.

a) Fill in the blanks using would you or could you.

1. _____ please close the door?
2. ______ put out the lights?
3. _____ mind going to the back bench?
4. ______ please bring some water for me?

b) Use the phrases could you or would you in the following situations with your friend.

1. Ask the policeman for directions.
2. Borrow your friend’s bike.
3. Exchange the book purchased.
4. Open your classroom window

Language Check

Incorrect	Correct	Explanation
I cannot say if he has passed the exam or not.	I cannot say whether he has passed the exam or not.	'Whether' is followed by 'or'
Hardly had she seen her aunt when she stopped fighting.	Hardly had she seen her aunt than she stopped fighting.	'Hardly' is always followed by 'than'.

Practice Practice Exercises

1. education

2. school

3. college

4. English

5. opportunity

6. friend

7. teacher

8. simultaneously

9. laboratory

10. Beneficiary

Name the scientist.

1. What did he discover?

2. Who approached the scientist?

3. What question did the journalist ask?

4. When did they meet the scientist?

1. please close the door?

2. put out the lights?

3. mind going to the back bench?

4. please bring some water for me?

1. Ask the policeman for directions.

2. Borrow your friend’s bike.

3. Exchange the book purchased.

4. Open your classroom window

1. Issac Newton was born at

2. Grandmother was advised to apprentice Newton to a

3. Isaac made a clock, by the dropping of

4. The sun-dial made by Isaac is still in existence at

5. Isaac constructed a model of the

a. common

b. notable

c. neglected

d. unknown

a. wealth

b. excellent

c. profitable

d. head

a. made

b. known

c. full

d. felt

a. disrespect

b. attraction

c. proud

d. popularity

a. affectionate

b. loving

c. disrespectful

d. cruel

a. delicious

b. sweet

c. distaste

d. against

a .owned

b. controlled

c. lacks

d. have

a. common

b. rarely

c. un wantedly

d. usually

1. Who was taking care of Newton after his father's death?

2. What did Isaac manufacture at his young age?

3. How did the young boy find the strength of the wind?

4. Why were his friends attracted by the windmill?

5. How was Newton honoured by the king?

1. Why did Newton's friends advice his grandmother to apprentice him to a clockmaker?

2. How did Newton learn about the way a windmill operated?

3. Mention some of Newton's inventions.