When most people hear the name Isaac Newton, they think of various laws of physics and the story of the apple falling from the tree; furthermore, some might even consider him the inventor of infinitesimal calculus. However, there was much more to Newton's life that was partly shaped by events around the world. The 17th century was a time of great upheaval and change throughout the world. The tumultuousness of this era was mainly due to political and religious unrest which indeed had a great impact on mathematical and scientific discoveries from Newton's birth in 1646 until the early 1700s. Newton's birth in 1646 came at the end of the war of 30 years fought in Central Europe. The war began in 1618 in Bohemia due to religious differences between Protestants and Catholics; however, as time passed, the war became more political and soon most European countries were involved (Ellis & Esler, 1999). The war ended in 1648 with a series of treaties known as the Pease of Westphalia with France emerging victorious by conquering lands from both Spain and Germany (Ellis & Esler, 1999). The tension felt between Protestants and Catholics was reflected in England, where there was a civil war that began in 1640 and continued until 1659. At the beginning of the civil war Oliver Cromwell was chosen as leader of Parliament with his devout Puritan beliefs; he soon became a leader on the Protestant side of the war. During this period, many considered England to be in near anarchy with groups such as Ranters, Levellers and Diggers fighting over various religious and political beliefs (Merriman, 1996). In 1649 Charles I, who had been King of England before the Civil War, was beheaded and England became a Commonwealth and... middle of paper... the true founder of calculus; however, much of the notation used today is courtesy of Leibniz because, according to many mathematicians, his notation is far superior to that of Newton (O'Connor & Robertson, Calculus History, 1996). did the seventeenth century help Newton develop calculus? In England and much of Europe science became part of public life in the 17th century (Merriman, 1996). Charles II created the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge in 1662, where many scientists studied and discussed their theories (Merriman, 1996). The Reformer's victory in the English Civil War gave Newton and other scientists their voice and courage to study and find many of the scientific discoveries, as this was not the case for Galileo and many other scientists in Catholic countries (Merriman, 1996).