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Overview
Newton was a natural philosopher (the word "scientist" had not yet been coined) who described a planetary system held together by gravitational forces. His "Principia" changed science forever; gravity not only explained the orbits of stars, it explained common earthly events as well. Newton established a way of thinking that still shapes our everyday understanding of how the world works.
Synopsis
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) achieved momentous breakthroughs in three areas: Mathematics (the calculus), a theory of colors, and gravitational attraction. His first insights in each of these areas occurred during the "wonder years" of 1665-66, when retreat from the plague isolated Newton at Woolsthorpe.
Newton's theory of "fluxions", along with independent work by Leibniz, created the methods of modern calculus.
Newton also revised Descartes' theory of light to show that white light is composed of different rays, each associated with a specific angle of refraction and a specific color. Newton also invented the reflection telescope, and considered his work on light and colors to be his first great success.
Newton also provided the universal law of gravitation (F=Gm1 m2/r2) and showed that the gravitational force (the factor G in this equation) is constant for all bodies.