Plague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book
In 1665–66 Newton left plague-closed Cambridge for Woolsthorpe. In the causal graph this event strengthens Infectious-Disease Transmission, a driver that weakens Life expectancy at birth — a worsening welfare path.

Read the full account
In 1665–66 Newton left plague-closed Cambridge for Woolsthorpe. Later lives and his own recollections place early fluxion and optical work in those years. No public book is dated 1666. Isaac Newton's documented role is: He left plague Cambridge for Woolsthorpe and later described early fluxions and optical work from those years. The public books are 1687 and 1704.
Context
The University closed. Trinity paid a scholar. Sharing recollection with later Newton is required; contribution is complex. The setting of Plague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book is the public file around 1666-01-01. Driver infectious-disease-transmission is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.
Shared responsibility is part of Plague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book. Naming Isaac Newton does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1666-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.
Why it matters
The later books are not this 1666 imprint. Medium confidence on any unique coefficient; high on the closure. The welfare reading on this path is worsening.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Isaac Newton
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.4 · verified
He left plague Cambridge for Woolsthorpe and later described early fluxions and optical work from those years. The public books are 1687 and 1704.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactPlague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book
- strengthensDriverInfectious-Disease Transmission
- weakensIndicators (3)Life expectancy at birth
impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 1 January 1666 · verified
A received research withdrawal is stored as context for later public books, not as a fake 1666 publication.
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.15 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.5)
Observed
80 Years · 2.3 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normal6 readings, 2018–2023: rose from 79.5 Years to 80 Years.
Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.15 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.5)
Observed
37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births · 12.4 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal7 readings, 2018–2024: fell from 40 deaths per 1,000 live births to 37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Above normal = worse
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.12 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.4)
Observed
11% of primary-school-age children · 11 above the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalAbove normal = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.The Newton Project — De motu corporum manuscriptsThe Newton Project / University of Oxford · High credibility · verified
- 2.Britannica — Isaac Newton, Lucasian Professor 1669Encyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Britannica independently narrates the plague-year withdrawal. The Newton Project edits early papers as later carriers. Official carrier: The Newton Project — early mathematical papers and plague-year context (https://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/ (opens in a new tab); The Newton Project / University of Oxford). Independent carrier: Britannica — Newton, plague years, Woolsthorpe (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Newton (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica).
Established: Cambridge closed and Newton was at Woolsthorpe. Not established: a unique 1666 theorem title page, or a falling-apple autograph. Established: a sourced public record of Plague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book under 1666-01-01.
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.
If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.
Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mixed effects of Plague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book are separate paths.
That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorIsaac Newton
- contributed toFactPlague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book
- strengthensDriverInfectious-Disease Transmission
- weakensIndicatorLife expectancy at birth
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Plague-year withdrawal to Woolsthorpe is the received setting of early calculations, not a dated book. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/newton-plague-years-received
https://factrail.ai/facts/newton-plague-years-received
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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