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Newton at Trinity Isaac Newton was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, on June 5, 1661. He was already eighteen when he entered university; many boys were enrolled at sixteen or even younger, and Newton was much more set in his ways than they were. Newton was also not as financially secure as many of his younger classmates at Trinity. When his mother had married for the second time, she had insisted that Reverend Smith should set aside a sum of money for Isaac’s education. However, the fund was not large enough for Newton to pay all of his expenses at the college. To earn money he worked except as “subsizar,” which involved waiting upon his tutor at the dining table and doing a few other chores. The Cambridge to which Newton came was busily adapting itself to the return of the Stuart monarchy. The two universities of Oxford and Cambridge trained the men who were at the center of affairs in state and church. When the old order was overthrown, about half of the heads of colleges and teachers (known as “fellows” or “dons”) lost their posts because they would not swear an oath to the new commonwealth. Now those put in their place feared similar treatment. Square mortarboards reappeared on the heads of teachers and students in

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