“He worked seven days a week, 18 hours a day, and he pushed himself even further”
Newton got admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge in the year 1661. In the year 1664, he got a scholarship to study for four more years to finish his MA but in the same year, England was hit by Bubonic plague due to which the University was closed for two consecutive years.
Due to this reason, Newton had to go back to his home in Woolsthorpe.
These two years turned out to be the most productive and mind-wrenchingly stressful years for Newton.
During these two years, he spent most of his days, most of his hours, studying in a room with nothing but lighting candles, loads of books, and notes around. It is reportedly said that he used to get so engrossed in his works that he would forget and skip his meals.
During this period, Newton used to spend 16–18 hours a day working and studying in his room totally undistracted. He came up with the theory of gravitation, his significant works in optics, and he also invented calculus during these bubonic plague times at his home.
According to biographer Gale Christianson, Newton’s working habits were pathologically addictive and for him, there was no end to the day. He would just keep going on and on and on until he felt exhausted to death.
In the 1680s, when Newton was rigorously working to publish his lifelong works in his book Principia Mathematica, as mentioned by one of Newton’s employees, he would often go to sleep at 2 or 3 in the morning. He barely attended any social events or participated in any recreational activities.
[Newton’s portrait by Enoch Seeman, courtesy of National portrait Gallery]
