Isaac Newton was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher born in 1643. He is famous for formulating the laws of motion and universal gravitation, which formed the foundations of classical mechanics. Some of his key contributions include developing the principles of differential and integral calculus, explaining the properties of light and the refraction of prisms, and establishing the law of universal gravitation by formulating the theory that the force that causes objects to fall also governs the motion of planets. Newton published his work on calculus, optics, and mechanics in his books Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica and Opticks, which influenced the scientific revolution.