On Thursday (8 March), Professors of and members of the Grounds and Gardens team headed to Newton’s childhood home Woolsthorpe Manor, where he conducted much of his major work having returned there during the Great Plague.
The group was invited to the ceremonial clipping of the apple tree that caused the English physicist and mathematician to question why objects always fall straight down to the ground – leading to his discovery of the law of gravitation.
Today ‘’ is an essential part of a pilgrimage to Woolsthorpe and its pips have even been to the as part of a programme of experiments for a mission that included British astronaut Tim Peake.
The apple tree is an old variety known as ‘Flower of Kent’ which is not commonly grown nowadays. The University was gifted five cuttings due to an informal co-operation between Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é Mathematics and the at Woolsthorpe.
Professor of Mathematical Engineering is a National Trust volunteer and has on a number of occasions demonstrated different types of pendula to members of the public that visit the Manor.
Professor Smith commented: “Since Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é is the closest university to Woolsthorpe, I hope our current informal co-operation can develop into a series of regular events where our staff can demonstrate science to a wide audience.
“A big thank you to the National Trust for this generous gift, I look forward to seeing the cuttings join the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é landscape.”
Jannette Warrener, Operations Manager for Woolsthorpe Manor, said: “We are delighted to be helping to inspire possible future Newtons studying at Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é by sharing grafts from our famous tree.
“This is just the start of a great partnership between the National Trust and Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é and we are really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.”
The University’ Grounds and Gardens team will now attach each of the tree cuttings to underground stems known as rootstocks. It is hoped they will join together permanently and continue to grow as a single organism – creating ‘clones’ of Newton’s Tree.
After two years of developing, the young trees will be ready to plant on the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é campus. One will be planted near the entrance of the Schofield Building as a reminder of the contribution Newton made to applied mathematics.
, Acting Dean of the , said: “Newton is one of the great characters in science and the apple tree story is always retold when we teach the next generation about the important ideas stemming from Newton.
“To have apple trees at Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é that descended from ‘The Tree’ is hugely significant and a great honour for us.”