Isaac Newton's Daily Routine

Isaac Newton described the laws of motion and universal gravitation in the Principia, and developed calculus. His daily routine at Cambridge was almost all work, and he rarely went to bed before 2:00 or 3:00 AM.

The account comes from his assistant, in Humphrey Newton's letters written in 1727/8, just after Newton's death. Some nights it was 5:00 or 6:00 AM, and he slept 4 or 5 hours. He ate little, often standing, and took no recreation at all. Twice a year the furnace took over, for about 6 weeks each spring and each autumn.

Read this as a portrait, not a plan, and don't borrow the sleep. It's for anyone curious what it looks like when one subject takes over a life.

What travels is smaller and still worth having: one problem, held in mind for as long as it takes. Pick one hard question and protect an unbroken stretch for it. The 7:00 AM wake and the single meal are our estimates, and every other waking hour is drawn as study because the letters give no split.