10-29-1669

Isaac Newton appointed Lucasian Professor at Cambridge University at age 26. This post required Newton to lecture once each week on "some part of Geometry, Astronomy, Geography, Optics, Statics, or some other Mathematical discipline," and to deposit ten of those lectures in the library each year. Students were required to attend, but like all other requirements, they ignored this one, too. Only three people are known to have attended a lecture at Cambridge by Newton.

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Isaac Newton