Newton’s Binomial Theorem transformed algebra by generalizing the expansion of (1 + x)^n to any rational exponent n; vastly increasing the expressions that could be written as infinite ascending power series of x, provided −1 < x < 1. This graphic distills that historic breakthrough and its precise conditions.

Here's a category breakdown of the 1752 books found in Newton’s personal library after his death. We remember him for the Principia, but his library tells a different story.

On this day in 1618, Johannes Kepler confirmed his Third Law of Planetary Motion: The square of a planet’s orbital period (T²) is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit (a³). The modern Newtonian derivation: > Equating gravitational force to centripetal force > Substituting orbital velocity v = 2πr/T > Resulting in T² / r³ = 4π² / (GM) The log-log graph confirms the relationship holds for planets in our Solar System. A foundational law that bridged empirical observation with gravitational physics.

Elon Musk: "I'm obviously a big fan of Nikola Tesla, since we named the company after him. But I also like Edison. Some people don’t like Edison, but I think he did some pretty impressive stuff. General Electric is basically Edison's company. I certainly admire great scientists and engineers… but I like anyone - Ben Franklin, Shakespeare, Newton, Einstein."

On this day, May 19 1681, Chinese mathematician and writer Mei Juecheng was born. He published Chishui yizhen (Pearls Recovered from the Red River), which included the infinite series expansion for sin(x), introduced to China via Jesuit missionaries. sin x = x − x³/3! + x⁵/5! − x⁷/7! + ⋯ (Originally from Gregory & Newton, introduced to China ~1701 as “Du Demei’s formula”)