His treatise Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics. He was the first to show that the motion of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws. The unifying and predictive power of his laws was central to the scientific revolution and led to the broader acceptance of the notion that rational investigation can reveal the inner workings of nature.

This medal was executed by order and at the expense of Mr. Thomas Hammond, and only a few were struck off as presents to his friends and to admirers of Newton. The legend on the reverse considers Newton as fulfilling the prophecy of Seneca that someone would arise to demonstrate the course of the comets. (Med. Ill.) Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a writer who lived in Rome in the first century CE. He wrote De Cometis, a priceless look into the past of what people thought about comets.

LINK to Portrait of Isaac Newton by  Godfrey Kneller (from Wikipedia)