Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was born at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, on 25 December 1642. He attended Grantham Grammar School, 1654-1656, before matriculating at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1661 (B.A., 1665), where he became a Fellow in 1667. In 1669 he was appointed Lucasian Professor at the university. Newton was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1672, and served as its President, 1703-1727. He was M.P. for Cambridge University, 1689 and 1701-1702. Newton's work on optics was published in 1704, and his research on the laws of motion appeared in his Principia, published in 1687. His other work included theological writings and the use of astronomy to try to amend ancient chronology. He was knighted in 1705, and died at Kensington, London, on 20 March 1727.

Robert Boyle (1627-1691), natural philosopher and chemist, was born at Lismore Castle, Munster, on 25 January 1627, the son of the 1st Earl of Cork. He was educated at Eton and by private tutors, and studied on the continent. Boyle settled at Oxford in 1654, where he erected a laboratory. He was responsible for 'Boyle's Law', which established the proportional relation between elasticity and pressure. He published many works between 1660 and his death on 31 December 1691.

From the guide to the Sir Isaac Newton: Letter to Robert Boyle, 1679, (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)