Newton, whose father had died before he was born, was born on Christmas Day, 1642. In his early twenties, he invented calculus, proved that white light was a mixture of colors, explained the rainbow, built the first reflecting telescope, discovered the binomial theorem, introduced polar coordinates, and showed the force causing apples to fall is the same as the force that drives planetary motions and produces tides. Many people don't realize that Newton was also a biblical fundamentalist, believing in the reality of angels, demons, and Satan. He believed in a literal interpretation of Genesis and believed the Earth to be only a few thousand years old. In fact, Newton spent much of his life trying to prove that the Old Testament is accurate history. One wonders how many more problems in physics Newton would have solved if he spent less time on his biblical studies.
Newton said that much of his physics discoveries resulted from random playing, rather than directed and planned exploration. He once said he was like a little boy "playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." Newton, like other great scientific geniuses (Nikola Tesla, Oliver Heaviside, and many others), had a rather strange personality. For example, he had not the slightest interest in sex, never married, and almost never laughed (although he sometimes smiled). Newton suffered a massive mental breakdown, and some have conjectured that throughout his life he was a manic depressive with alternating moods of melancholy and happy activity.