Sir Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643; however, December 25, 1642 is his recorded date of birth as the Gregorian calendar was not yet adopted. He was named after his father, a peasant who died three days before he was born. He lived with his mother, Hannah Ayscough who later on remarried, which caused him to be taken care of by his grandmother. He had a relationship but there were no records that he got married as he was so engrossed with his studies. When his stepfather passed away, he was required by his mom to go on farming which he disliked. As fortune would have it, Henry Strokes, who was a master at King?s School (his old school) persuaded his mother to let him study again. Because he was motivated, he had good grades that made him on top of his class.

Sir Isaac?s first contribution was mathematical fluxions, which later on was improved and became known as Integral and Differential Calculus. His inventions gave way to various accomplishments and served as patterns in solving other problems and creating new formulae. Another famous contribution was the Law of Gravity. The genius saw an apple falling that made him think if the same also applies to the Moon.

He was also the proponent of the three Laws of Motion which state that (first) an object that remains at rest stay at rest and an object is in motion will not change its velocity unless an unbalanced force upon it or simply the Law of Inertia; (second) acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass; thus, the more mass the object has, the more force has to be applied. Here, the relationship among force, mass and acceleration is considered; and (third) for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Sir Isaac Newton died in his sleep. His body was recorded to have had Mercury in it, which could have been the reason why he seemed to be a very strange man. His works will forever live as everything that people do can be well explained by his laws.

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Explaining the nature of atoms was not difficult through Democritus' logical reasoning. He affirmed that the strength of an object depends on the shape of the atoms the object has. For instance, iron atoms are believed to be strong with interconnecting hooks, while water atoms are slippery. The atoms of salt are believed to be pointed, while the atoms of air are weightless.

Considering how Democritus was able to come up with these theories several centuries ago, it's not difficult to be convinced that the man was a true genius. Today, we know that atoms interact through electric and magnetic forces, and this was not so distant from how Democritus imagined them. The atomic theory, during that time, gave a peep into the future of modern science that it is now.

Interestingly, Democritus used his theory on atoms to explain the way the universe functions. The philosopher believed that humans only created gods to make sense of incomprehensible things around them. The universe, in his view, is a very comprehensible machine made of atoms. He also maintained that every human's soul is made of atoms. Democritus believed that human life should be guided by integrity and social responsibility. He maintained that the way to contentment is through discipline, acceptance, moderation, and harmony.

Expanding his theory further, Democritus noted the existence of infinite and eternal atoms and thoroughly postulated about how and why atoms combine to build larger structures in the universe. He gave an intricate explanation on how planets, stars and other worlds formed. Democritus lived in 5th Century BC, but the ideas he created were so advanced that he was often regarded as the founder of modern science.

He was a man who understood matter and energy, who thought that the Milky Way galaxy was formed by the light from other stars, and who boldly believed that man has the choice to make his own future.

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Plato

Plato is best known for his written work entitled The Dialogues. He spoke of conversations he had with Socrates, his mentor, as the main character. But the conversations did not include any character named Plato. The dialogs may have actually reflected Socrates' ideas, or perhaps Plato's own. Because of the indirect style of the writings, no one can know for sure. Neither Plato's actual or original philosophies are spelled out clearly, but the writings do give an indication of his leanings. This as much can be said: Plato pursued many fields of knowledge, including geometry, mathematics, politics, the arts, education, and of course, philosophy. He tackled questions having to do with ethics, the nature of man, the universe, reality, and mind.

A great accomplishment of Plato was the Academy–a school he founded in about 387 BC and presided over until his death. This became a famous institution of learning. It taught philosophy, mathematics, arts, drama and the sciences, and encouraged research. (As a side note, the word “academy” comes from Academus, a hero in Greek mythology, who lived near Plato's Academy, Hekademeia)

Before being a full-time scholar and academician, Plato served twice in the military and took part in the wars of his time. He found the life of a soldier distasteful, and preferred to be a politician. A turning point for him was the execution of his mentor Socrates. This convinced him to abandon Athenian politics altogether. He traveled to Egypt and parts of Sicily and Italy, where he studied, developed, and shared his philosophy.

During his travels, he was especially impressed with the mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras. When Plato returned, he established the Academy. This flourished for centuries, until 529 AD. Then it was accused of being a pagan institution, which led to its closure. But the Academy did continue, for 900 years, making it the longest-running institution of learning of all time.

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Socrates

While Socrates left no writings of his own, much has been written on him in certain texts. The Dialogues of Plato and the writings of Xenophone (a famous Greek historian) say much about his character and thoughts. Plato, himself a celebrated philosopher, was one of Socrates' many students.

Basically, the Socratic Method encourages having a two-way dialog, rather than listening to lectures, as a more effective way to learn. This was how Socrates himself taught his students. He spoke with them directly, on an equal footing, and encouraged thoughtful questions. This explains why he left no writings. He preferred face-to-face dialog to more solitary pursuits like writing.

Socrates lived in 469-399 BC. He must have been about 71 years old when he died. A not-very-well-known tidbit from his life is that he was a midwife, in addition to being a teacher and a thinker. He too is believed to have been born ugly and maybe even deformed. He did get married and had children. But his true legacy is his strong passion for truth and knowledge. He had high ideals and was unwavering in their support. This, unfortunately, was what led to his demise. He was put up for trial for his political beliefs. In the end, he chose death over having to give up his ideals and live in a society that frowned on free thinking and free speech.

Lauded by many as the wisest person of his time (and perhaps of all times), Socrates made many contributions to ethics and other fields of philosophical study. His ideas on logic and morality hold great sway up to this day. He gave sage advice on how to distinguish right from wrong, and how to deal with both mundane problems and the more profound questions of life and existence.

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Pythagoras

Pythagoras was a mathematician, but he was also equally into philosophy and religion. At one time, he did political work too, but he was not happy with it. He founded a school of philosophy, which taught, among other things: numbers, symbols and their mystical significance; and the idea that reality is mathematical in essence. His students and the school were very idealistic and disciplined; they were mostly vegetarians and they had no personal possessions. They later came to be known as the Pythagorean Society. To this day, there are groups and organizations that call themselves Pythagorean.

Also bearing Pythagoras' name is a famous mathematical theorem used in solving triangle equations. This theorem, which is still being taught in high school and college today, holds that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Other geometric theorems or discoveries attributed to Pythagoras or to Pythagoreans involve:

– geometrical algebra
– irrational numbers
– plane and solid figures
– theorems that further describe angles in a triangle, and the sides and angles of polygons
– theorems on how to compute areas
– orbits of the Moon, Venus as both the evening star and the morning star, and other astronomical findings.

Pythagoras was also deeply interested in the study of music. He was, in fact, an accomplished lyre musician. He found correspondences between music and mathematics, as he discovered, for example, certain ratios of the lengths of strings on musical instruments that produced the best harmonies. As such, Pythagoras made valuable contributions in the development of the mathematical theory of music.

He saw numbers and mathematics as an underlying essence of music and all things in the universe. Some of his ideas are today considered unorthodox, such as the idea that numbers have personalities. But many more of his ideas have now become very familiar; the concepts of odd and even numbers, and of perfect numbers, were all first developed by Pythagoras.

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Hypatia

Hypatia was born in 370 AD in the center of learning that was Alexandria, Egypt. Her father was Theon, a famous mathematician-philosopher. Undoubtedly, her learned father trained and taught her, and together, they later collaborated in writing certain commentaries to prominent scientific works, such as Ptolemy's comprehensive astronomical writings. On her own, Hypatia herself authored similar commentaries on important writings, making them more accessible and understandable to many people. Examples of these were her commentaries on Apollonius's Conics and Diophantus's Arithmetica.

In time, Hypatia became the director of a Platonist school in Alexandria, and she became a famous teacher and educator. She was an authority on many subjects– primarily philosophy, Neoplatonic thought, mathematics and astronomy–and she is described as a very eloquent and charismatic lecturer.

She also made contributions to the mathematics, and was the first woman to do so. Other scholars asked her advice on many things, including, on some occasions, how to construct an astrolabe and a hydroscope. As a philosopher, she espoused Neoplatonic beliefs. Among these was the belief that ultimate reality was beyond the grasp of human intellect and words, and that it had to be mystically experienced. Nonetheless, her lectures had a very strong scientific emphasis, which made her stand out from earlier advocates of Neoplatonic thought.

Hypatia died in March 415 under gruesome circumstances. Some accounts say that she was murdered by fanatical Christian monks. Others say that she was attacked by an angry religious mob. Apparently, Hypatia was accused of being a witch or a proponent of pagan beliefs. At that time, women who demonstrated great learning and scientific knowhow were apt to be singled out as witches, because their progressive ideas were a threat to the prevailing religious and superstitious way of life.

Hypatia led a life full of fascinating intellectual accomplishments. For many people, she epitomizes the fearless and progressive attitude of a true scholar. She has inspired many modern writers to compose stories, novels and even movies about her.

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Aristotle

Based on his writings, Aristotle believed that the cosmos is round and finite. He believed that the cosmos is round in as much as it has a center, which is the earth. He also believed that the earth is round and smaller than the stars, and that the earth, unlike heavenly bodies, is at rest. Everything else moves around it. This observation, although incorrect, is logical: Aristotle thought that if the earth indeed moves, then the whole scheme of things would turn around. The stars, it would appear, are in their fixed places while the earth is in motion. The philosopher thought this couldn't be.

At least Aristotle was right for one thing: the earth is round. He asserted this belief by arguing that when a person goes to the north or to the south, he or she does not see the same stars in the evening or the same positions of the sky in the day.

Aristotle grew up in a period where people believed in the presence of four basic elements: earth, air, fire and water. The astronomer, however, theorized that a fifth element, which he called aether, serves as the main component of heavenly bodies. He described aether as something that couldn't be combined with other elements or reproduced. It is eternal, unchangeable, and has no sense of weight.
Aristotle also formed his own model of the solar system, wherein he included the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, the sun, and the moon. His concern in postulating this system was to make sense how heavenly bodies do not collide against one another.

Aristotle theorized that there are 22 counteracting spheres in the system, and these spheres set all the bodies in balance. Again, as we know it, this is wrong.

Aristotle did not have the devices to discover groundbreaking things about the universe, but he surely made significant contributions to astronomy simply by observing how nature behaved and always being inquisitive about the mysteries of the world.

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Thales

One of Thales' major accomplishments was being able to measure the height of the pyramids. He did this without using any sophisticated instruments, relying mostly on observation and mathematical analysis.

Given his analytic mind, Thales was able to introduce geometry to his fellow Greeks, after studying it in Egypt. Several geometric theorems being taught in schools today were presented by Thales. One of these is the theorem that states: when two straight lines intersect, the angles between them are equal.

In the field of astronomy, Thales impressed everyone by accurately foretelling a solar eclipse. In those days, it was considered a grand achievement, and rightly so. Solar eclipses were much harder to predict than lunar ones, and the people didn't have calendars or the mathematical knowhow to predict important astronomical events.

Thales also made a name for himself when he introduced a method of navigation at sea using the constellations as guide. He demonstrated that ships can find their way by navigating according to the positions of the constellation Ursa Minor in the night sky.

But Thales was only human, and he was guilty of a few erroneous assumptions. For example, he believed that everything was made mostly of water. He believed that earthquakes happened because the earth was like a flat disc floating on a vast ocean of water. He tried explaining other natural phenomena based on his supposition that water made up all things.

Everyone knows now that the earth is not flat, and neither is water the main constituent of all things. But the way Thales thought started something very important. He is the first person known to make a rational and scientific attempt at explaining phenomena without the use of superstition or supernatural explanations. In effect, he helped develop the scientific method of investigation.

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