Unit Sixteen Outstanding People of Great Britain

Britain produced statesmen, thinkers, explorers, musicians, writers, scientists and other people who are well known around the world.

Newton – Prominent English Scientist

(1643 - 1727)

Newton, one of the greatest scientists of all time, was born in the year in which Galileo died at the little village near Lincolnshire. His farther was a farmer. His mother was a housewife and very clever woman. Newton’s school days were not remarkable. At school he was a strange boy, interested in constructing mechanical devices of his own design, curious about the world around him, but showing no signs of unusual brightness. He seemed to be rather slow in his studies in his age.

In the late 1650s he was taken out of school to help on his mother's farm, where he was clearly the world's worst farmer. His uncle detecting the scholar in the young man said that he had to be sent to Cambridge. In 1660 this was done and in 1665 Newton graduated. The plague hit London and he retired to his mother's farm to remain out of danger. He had already worked out the binomial theorem in mathematics.

At his mother's farm something greater happened. He watched an apple fall to the ground and began to wonder if the same force that pulled the apple down also held the Moon in its grip. The story of the apple has often been thought a myth, but according to Newton's own words, it is true. This event led him to a great scientific discovery.

Newton theorized that the rate of fall was proportional to the strength of the gravitational force and that this force fell off according to the square of the distance from the centre of the Earth. (This is the famous «inverse square» law). He made his calculations which appeared to be wrong and did not prove his observation. He was dreadfully disappointed and put the problem of gravitation aside for fifteen years.

In this same period 1665—1666 Newton conducted startling optical experiments. Newton's prism experiments made him famous. In 1669 his mathematics teacher resigned in his favour and Newton at twenty-seven found himself a professor of mathematics at Cambridge. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1672. His famous «Principia Mathematica» was published in 1687. It is the greatest scientific work ever written.

Newton was respected in his lifetime as no scientist before him. When he died he was buried in Westminster Abbey along with England's heroes. The great French literary figure Voltaire, who was visiting England at that time, commented with admiration that England honoured a mathematician as other nations honoured a king. The Latin inscription on his tomb ends with the sentence, «Mortals! Rejoice at so great an ornament to the human race!»

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born at Stratford-on-Avon in April, 1564. William was bap­tized on April 26. April 23 is St. George's Day and England's National Day. It is also the date of Shake­speare's death. Many people believe that he was born and died on the same date. But the date of his birth­day is unknown. He was the third of 8 children of John Shakespeare and his wife, Mary Arden. She mar­ried John when she was about 17, in 1557.

His family was gentle on both sides. William's father had lands received from Henry VII. He was a glover and the local policeman. Will's mother was a daughter of a gentleman of honourable family. 11 years William attended a free grammar school. But the days of study ended when he married at 18 Anna Hathaway, 26. Before 21 he was father of 3 children, daughter Susanna, and a twin son and daughter, Hamnet and Judith /1585/.

It made him seek a fortune in London. He went to the great city in 1586. While he was in London he fell in love with a «dark lady» whom he wrote about in his sonnets. He became known in London theat­rical life. William went back home to his family only when the theatre season ended. For 25 years he lived so.

In 1593 appeared his first poem «Venus and Adonis» In 1594 he was able to purchase a share in the acting company Men. From 1594 to 1608 Shakespeare was fully involved in the London theatre life. He wrote two plays a year for the Men. In 1595 he wrote his first tragedy «Romeo and Juliet».

In 1596, a great sorrow fell upon the poet: his only son Hamnet died at 11. In 1597, Shakespeare purchased New Place, one of the two largest houses in Stratford. He helped his parents. In 1599, Shake­speare and 6 associates became owners of the outdoor theatre Globe. King James I supported the theatre; the company became King's Men. The actors entertained the king at the court.

From 1599 to 1608 was a period of extraordinary literary activity for Shakespeare. During these years he wrote the comedies and tragedies that made him famous: «Much Ado About Nothing», «Hamlet», «King Lear», «Othello».

Family events must have called him back to Stratford. In 1607, his daughter Susanna, 24, got mar­ried; in 1608 Shakespeare's mother died.

In 1609, Thomas Thorpe published «Shakespeare's Sonnets». The volume contained 154 sonnets written in his youth. In 1612 A Funeral Elegy was printed in honour of William Peter.

On February 19, 1616, Shakespeare's daughter Judith, 30, got married. Six weeks later, Shake­speare revised his will. Within a month, on April 26, he died at 52. He was buried inside the Stratford church, and a monument was erected to his memory. In 125 years, in 1741, another monument was erected in the Westminster Abbey.

His wife Anna Hathaway survived her husband 8 years. His favourite daughter Susanna gave birth to only child, Elizabeth, who was married twice but childless in 1670. She was Shakespeare's last direct descendant. Judith had three sons all of whom died in childhood.

Various ages have found various things in Shakespeare. The Romantics admitted his freedom. The 19^th century admired his delicate psychological insight of his characterization. All ages have admired his command of language. He is presented by modern critics as deeply concerned with the moral basis of life. «Nature», «right», «order», «truth», the key concepts, created and tested in the conflicts which form the plays.