It's Newton!

DECEMBER 2012

You knew Isaac Newton had to show up sooner or later so I figured December would be good since he was born on Christmas Day in 1642 (or was he?) according to the calendar used in England at the time.  England had not adopted the Gregorian calendar yet which would list his birthday as January 4, 1643.  Newton was born in Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire county in England and is arguably the most influential scientist the who ever lived.  In his 1687 book the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion know known as Newton's Three Laws.  In the field of optics he built the first built the first working reflecting telescope and discovered white light to be combination of the many colors of visible spectrum.  In the field of mathematics, he along with  Gottfried Leibniz, is credited for the discovery of differential and integral calculus.

In the later years, Newton became a member of Parliament and also secured a post at the  Royal Mint.  In 1699 he became Master of the Mint and held on to this position until his death.  He took this position very seriously as counterfeiting was considered high treason punishable by hanging and then being drawn and quartered.  Newton was made president of the  Royal Society in 1703 and knighted in 1705.  He died in London in 1727 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

sources:
wikipedia: Isaac Newton