229 9- Solutions Elementary. Audio Scripts for SB 2017. 3rd
Presenter What an incredible experience!
Jackie Well, yes. My heart slowed down to its normal
speed after about half an hour!
4.26 Culture 7
Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day in 1642.
Newton’s father died before he was born. His mother got
married again, and Newton lived with his grandmother. At
the age of twelve, he started school, and seven years later,
in 1661, he went to Cambridge University. There he began
to study light and colour. He invented a new type of
telescope and was the first person to discover that white
light is a mixture of all the colours. After four years at
Cambridge, the plague arrived in Britain. The plague was
a terrible illness that killed thousands of people. The
university closed and Newton returned home. While he was
at home he continued to think and to work. One day, he was
sitting under an apple tree in his garden, and an apple fell
on his head. Newton said that is how he discovered gravity.
It’s certainly a good story but we aren’t sure if it is true! He
returned to Cambridge in 1667 and two years later he
became a Professor of Mathematics. Starting in 1684,
Newton wrote his greatest work: Principia Mathematica,
which he published in 1687. Isaac Newton died in October
1727, at the age of 84. His work is still important, nearly 300
years after his death.
4.27 Culture 7, exercises 4 and 5
Presenter Today I am with Simon Humphreys, Professor
of Astronomy at a university in London. We are
talking about Caroline Herschel, the
astronomer. Simon, where was Caroline
Herschel born?
Professor She was actually born in Germany, but she
spent most of her life in Britain. She was the
sister of the astronomer William Herschel. He
was born in 1738 and was twelve years older
than his sister.