“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one to ask why.” – Bernard Baruch

The almost sacred and cherished part of our primary studies was a legendary tale involving Newton, his apple and gravity. While the laws of gravity, with its formulas and calculations flee our memory, yet Newton’s ‘aha moment’ when the apple hit him on the head remains intact. When we look at it, how fascinating does it seem, that an apple hitting your head results in the most prestigious discovery of the existence of gravity, however the actual situation might have slightly been different. Newton, born in 1642, was home bound courtesy of the bubonic plague which resulted in his school being closed. During his stay at his childhood home, Woolsthorpe Manor, he sighted an apple falling from the tree and later remained fascinated by this observation. There is no direct evidence if the fruit actually hit his head, but seeing the falling apple did make Newton ponder about the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ because of which he ultimately ended up discovering gravity. So for all those trying to purposely hit apples on your heads in terms of landing a jackpot discovery like Newton, I hate to break it to you, but it’s not going to work.