how did Sir Issac Newton revolutionized the thinking of his time?
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I think the truest indication of Newton's genius was his discovery (not exactly intuitive) that the same force that causes an object to fall to the ground was none other than the same force that keeps the moon and planets in their orbits.
75707
In the history of science, the scientific revolution was the period that roughly began with the discoveries of Kepler, Galileo, and others at the dawn of the 17th century, and ended with the publication of the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687 by Isaac Newton. These boundaries are controversial, with some claiming that the proper start of the scientific revolution was the publication of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543, while others wish to extend it into the 18th century.\n\nThe seventeenth century was a period of major scientific change. But at that time the word "science" did not have its current meaning, and "scientist" had not been coined; Newton was called a natural philosopher. Not only were there major theoretical and experimental developments, but even more importantly, the way in which scientists worked was radically changed. At the beginning of the century, science was highly Aristotelian; at its end, science was mathematical, mechanical, and empirical.\n\nAbout 1600, Ideas and People who emerged:\n\n    * Uniform acceleration of falling bodies (Galileo)\n    * Inertia and inertial frames of reference\n    * The Earth as a magnet\n    * Theory of lenses\n    * Kepler's laws of planetary motion (Kepler), coupled with Copernicus' publication of Concerning the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.\n    * Telescopic discoveries: moons of Jupiter, lunar mountains, phases of Venus, etc. (Galileo)\n    * Laws of hydrostatics\n    * Constant period of the pendulum (Newton)\n    * Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) published On the Fabric of the Human Body (1543), which discredited Galen's views. He found that the circulation of blood resolved from pumping of the heart. He also assembled the first human skeleton from cutting open cadavers.\n    * William Harvey (1578-1657) solved how blood circulates via disections.\n    * Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler searched for understanding of the stars. Although the Danish Brahe rejected the Copernican belief that the earth revolved around the sun, his assistant Kepler, a German, proved that Copernicus' theory had validity. He established, using trigonometry and geometric algebra, laws of planetary motion.\n    * William Gilbert (1544-1603), an English scientist, published a book describing the magnet in 1600.\n    * Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), whose greatest scientific experiment amounted to stuffing snow into a dead chicken, nevertheless penned inductive reasoning, proceeding from observation and experimentation. This contrasted with Rene Descartes who took a more theoretical approach to science.\n    * Galileo was tried for his belief of the Copernican system because he lived in Italy, a Catholic state at the height of an inquisition that prosecuted heresy. Because the pope was a personal friend of Galileo's, he fortunately escaped death and instead lived the rest of his life in house arrest if he chose to renounce his support for Copernicus's views, which he did. He is perhaps best known for his law of falling bodies, which he proved not only theoretically through a thought experiment, but also through experimentation, uniting both the inductive observational part of science with the theoretical and logical branch.\n    * René Descartes(1596-1650) and Isaac Newton(1642-1727): Descartes pioneered Deductive reasoning, publishing in 1637 Discourse on Method. He is widely known for issuing the statement, "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito, ergo sum). Newtonian Synthesis, on the other hand is built upon Kepler, Galileo and Descartes--Newton believed that scientific theory should be coupled with rigid experimentation. Newton postulated the theory of Universal Gravitation. Newton became a wealthy hero--knighted by the king and elected to Parliament in 1689 representing Cambridge University. However, Newton did clash with Goetfried Leibniz on various issues, including who first invente
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Kepler figured out the laws that describe planetary orbits.  This enabled much more accurate planetary positions (which Kepler published), and set the stage for Isaac Newton to explain that gravity  was the force that held the planets in their orbits.\n\nUp until Kepler, everyone was sure that planetary orbits must be some form of perfect circle. His discovery that they are actually elliptical was an important turning point in the history of science, away from the Aristotelian method of applying philosophical concepts to physical reality, and towards modern empirical science.
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Possible in his work of 1809.
700809
He was instrumental in the invention of The Calculus, and he created the field of classical mechanics.
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The number Zero (0) and the decimal system was introduced to Europe, which became the basis for the Scientific revolution. The Arabic numerals were also transferred to Europe, this made mathematical tasks much easier, problems that took days to solve could now be solved in minutes. The works of Al-Khwarizmi (Alghorismus) were translated into Latin. Alghorismus, from whom the mathematical term algorism was derived, wrote Sindhind, a compilation of astronomical tables.\n\nTrigonometric work by Alkirmani of Toledo was translated into Latin (from which we get the sine and cosine functions) along with the Greek knowledge of Geometry by Euclid. Along with mathematics, masses of other knowledge in the field of physical science was transferred.
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In Einstein's Theory of Relativity, he proved that space and time are relative properties of our material universe, not absolutes, independent of matter, as Newton believed...
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I think the man was thinking ahead of his time.
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Quoting from Wikipedia:\n\n"Calculus started making great strides in Europe towards the end of the early modern period and into the first years of the eighteenth century. This was a time of major innovation in Europe, making accessible answers to old questions. Calculus provided a new method in mathematical physics. Several mathematicians contributed to this breakthrough, notably John Wallis and Isaac Barrow. James Gregory proved a special case of the second fundamental theorem of calculus in 1668. In Japan at around this time, Seki Kowa also made some major discoveries in integral calculus.\n\nLeibniz and Newton pulled these ideas together into a coherent whole and they are usually credited with the probably independent and nearly simultaneous "invention" of calculus. Newton was the first to apply calculus to general physics and Leibniz developed much of the notation used in calculus today; he often spent days determining appropriate symbols for concepts. It was generations after Newton and Leibniz that Cauchy, Riemann, and other mathematicians finally put calculus on a rigorous basis, with the definition of the limit, and the formal definition of the Riemann integral."
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Albert Einstein shook the foundations of physics with the introduction ofestablished his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, and his General Theory of Relativity in 1915.
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He invented nothing.  He revolutionized the world with a paper in 1905 and he developed the equation E = mc(squared) which ulimately led to being proved by nuclear fission and the detonation of the atomic bomb.
530815
An interesting point you make, and it is, indeed, true. During the scientific revolution, most of the scientists that participated in it were Christians. Isaac Newton, for example, had believed that his discoveries concerning light and universal gravitation had to do with God. Many scientists were Christians, and did not perceive science as simply an endeavour in which one attempts to legitimately answer a question. Many of these scientists were those who had viewed science as a way of understanding the mind of God. It was thought by many of these prominent scientists (Isaac Newton, Lord Kelvin, and many others) that, if one were to better understand the universe through science, they could see God in all creations and discoveries. In fact, during the scientific revolution, one scientist said that "Science is thinking God's thought's after him." This quote really embodies the basic reason for scientists' devotion to science during the revolution. God was the driving force for many of the scientists, along with interest and the spirit of inquiry.
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If it were not for the comet that is named after him he would be largely unknown save for a few science historians.  \n\nTwo items do standout however\n\n"In 1705, applying historical astronomy methods, he published Synopsis Astronomia Cometicae, which stated his belief that the comet sightings of 1456, 1531, 1607, and 1682 related to the same comet, which he predicted would return in 1758. When it did it became generally known as Halley's Comet."\n\nand \n\n"One problem that attracted his attention was the proof of Kepler's laws of planetary motion. In August 1684 he went to Cambridge to discuss this with Isaac Newton, only to find that Newton had solved the problem but published nothing. Halley convinced him to write the Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis (1687), which was published at Halley's expense."\n\nThe last point seems unique and significant.  That particular work of Newton was very important at that time and influenced many other scientists.\n\nMost of Halley's work, while important then, could easily have been completed by other people without consequence.
192757
He basically invented what has become known as classical physics.  It is accurate and can be used in most areas of science today, however, it does have its limitations.  Which is where modern physics comes into play.
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Aryabhatta.... he invented "0"... without which we would not know maths or physics as it is today... and oh yeah... the computers would not be there without the 0s and 1s.
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Charles Darwin\n\nIssac Newton
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I would tend to think it was a combination of his mathematical work (Calculus) and observation of the physical world.  If you ever look at his equations, they conform so well to elementary calculus, it shows how well he used what he developed mathematically to predict the world around him.  Most of his equations (if not all of them) could be developed for 1 dimension with a watch of some kind, and an some similar objects to drop, and a method to measure the height you are dropping them.  He could then very readily combine this with the calculus tools he was developing to create a very robust theory.  \n\nBy using a spring he could show how force influenced items of varying weights, therefore determining F=m*a.  \n\nThe primary insight Newton had was that gravity is a force.  This insight allowed him to realize that force is what causes all bjects to accelerate, and that gravity did so uniformly.  By knowing that all objects fall to earth at the same speed, he could realize that the force of gravity is related to the mass, which leads to the universal law of gravity.