Induction into the Royal Society and first Publications.

In 1672, Newton was elected into the Royal Society. His first paper dealt with color, light, and optics. This paper was very controversial at the time among fellow scientists and mathematicians. This sparked the first disputes that Isaac would have to undergo about his work. This also was the beginning of Newton’s greatest rivalry with the curator and head of the Royal Society, Robert Hooke. This controversy continued for about six years. Isaac Newton believed at this time that light was composed of particles. Hooke condemned Newton’s idea, for he theorized that they were composed of waves. Newton’s argument was that if light was in the form of a wave, then light should be able to bend around corners. If you have ever seen your shadow, you noticed that light does not bend around you, or you wouldn't have a shadow. Sound was known to be made up of waves and sound waves can bend. That is why you can hear someone talking in other rooms. Even though Newton wasn't entirely correct, his reasoning behind his theories did seem logical.

 During this time, Newton was publishing more and more papers, which again drew criticism, mostly from Hooke. Hooke accused Newton of plagiarism. The charges didn't hold water and were burned, but Newton withdrew. Isaac threatened to leave the Royal Academy, but decided to remain after some of the fellow members convinced him that he was held in high regard.

In 1678, Newton was emotionally distraught. The next year didn't bode much better for Newton with the passing of his mother. Isaac cut himself off from the rest of the world and all people. He began working on more research, a good part of which dealt with alchemy. Alchemy is more of a philosophical tradition than it is a science. People that practice alchemy attempt to use metals to do one of three things: create the mythical philosopher’s stone, transform metals into noble metals such as gold or silver, or create an elixir of life. All of these things are obviously mythical, but during this time period it was widely popular. Scholars of Newton don’t like to mention this usually since they consider it an embarrassment. However, practicing alchemy at this time could be considered an attempt to understand nature’s hidden forces.

These studies were not a complete loss for Newton though. Many link some of Newton’s ideas on mechanics to be traced back to his studies on alchemy. Newton changed this philosophical idea of mechanics by theorizing an invisible, yet measurable force, gravity. As mentioned before, Newton was said to have observed the falling of the apple in 1666. It is actually considered more accurate by scholars that Newton didn't fully understand gravity until almost twenty years after that event. Isaac Newton’s greatest rival at the time, Robert Hooke, was actually the person that helped Newton on the path to developing insights about gravity. Hooke had sent Newton a letter that mentioned a great question about planetary motion. Hooke suggested that the formula might involve the inverse squares.