Isaac Newton changed the way we understand the Universe. Revered in his own lifetime, he discovered the laws of gravity and motion and invented calculus. He helped to shape our rational world view. But Newton’s story is also one of a monstrous ego who believed that he alone was able to understand God’s creation. His private life was far from rational – consumed by petty jealousies, bitter rivalries and a ruthless quest for reputation. Newton's childhood home of Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire. Not expected to survive the day Newton was born prematurely on Christmas morning, in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire. He was a tiny baby, given little chance of survival. The country he was born into was chaotic and turbulent. England was being torn apart by civil war. The plague was an ever-present threat. Many believed the end of the world was imminent. But the hamlet of Woolsthorpe was a quiet community, little touched by either war or plague, which respected Puritan values of sobriety, simple