Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Läseboken - 53. A Storm (Dialogue the 13th) - 54. Sir Isaac Newton
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
40
Läsebok. N:o 76 — 77. 40
B. I should not wonder if we had a complete change
of weather, the barometer has been falling gradually for some
days past.
A. I had not noticed it, in fact — good gracious! I
never saw such forked lightning before, and there seem to
be balls falling in all directions.
B. I hope none of the cattle will be struck — we ought,
properly, to have had them driven home before the storm
came on.
A. There’s not much fear of that now, I think the
worst is over; but the rain has evidently set in for the night.
B. 1 es, it patters on most perseveringly, and the forked
lightning has given place to sheet, which, 1 have no doubt,
will keep the rain company during the night.
54. Sir Isaac Newton.
Newton, the greatest of modern mathematicians, was
born on Christmas-day, 1642, at Woolsthorpe, in the county
of Lincoln.
He went to two little day-schools till he was twelve
years old, when he was sent to the grammar-school at
Grantham, where he boarded in the house of an apothecary; he
soon gave proofs of surprising genius, and astonished his
acquaintances by his mechanical contrivances.
Instead of playing with other boys at juvenile games, he
constantly busied himself in making machines and models, in
wood of different kinds. For this purpose, he got little
saws, hatchets, hammers, and all sorts of tools, which he
knew how to use with great dexterity. He even went so far
as to make a wooden clock. A new windmill was set up
about this time near Grantham, and young Newton’s imitating
genius contrived to make a perfect model, which was
considered at least equal to the workmanship of the original.
These contrivances engrossed so much of his thoughts that
he was apt to neglect his tasks, and dull boys were
sometimes put over him in his form. His acquisition of drawing,
which he acquired without any assistance, was equally
remarkable with his mechanical inventions.
The mother of Newton, to save expence, recalled her
son from school, to make him serviceable at Woolsthorpe, in
managing the farm; but it was soon found that all the
business committed to his care was forgotten or neglected.
This conduct of her son induced his mother to send
him to Grantham school again for nine months, and then to
Cambridge, where the progress of his studies were of no
common kind. He wrote comments on the mathematical books
he read, and reaped a rich harvest of discoveries. He pro-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
