Newton and His Apple: The True Story
The story (popularized by Voltaire, no less!) said that Newton was inspired when he saw a falling apple while walking around his family’s garden at Woolsthorpe Manor, to formulate his theory of universal gravitation (some version even claimed the apple fell on his head!).
Newton himself actually said that he was staring out the window in his house when he saw an apple fall from a tree.
Purported offspring of the Newton’s Apple Tree in Woolsthorpe Manor (Image Source: Mathematical Association of America)
Whatever happened to the tree? The King’s School in Grantham, Linconshire, England, where Newton went to school, claimed to have purchased the tree and moved it to its garden. Naturally, this is a bone of contention with the Woolsthorpe Manor people who are currently in charge of the upkeep of Newton’s home (now a historic site).
(Source: Newton’s Apple [wiki])
