Newest Google Doodle- falling apples for Sir Issac Newton

Google is continuing on with its tradition of honoring famous geeks through the “Google Doodle”- this time with an unusually well rendered tree and an animated falling apple. (Above, the fallen apple and then the intact logo with both apples.)

Hovering over the image offers the text “Birthday of Sir Issac Newton,” and clicking the logo returns results on the highly influential scientist. Newton was born on January 4th in 1643, making today his 367th birthday. He was thought to have formulated gravitational theory in 1665 or 1666, purportedly after seeing an apple fall from a tree and pondering why it plummeted to Earth rather than moving sideways or upward. Nat Geo quoted some sciency types on the modern impact of Newton’s findings:

“He showed that the force that makes the apple fall and that holds us on the ground is the same as the force that keeps the moon and planets in their orbits,” said Martin Rees, President of Britain’s Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of science, which was once headed by Newton himself.

“His theory of gravity wouldn’t have got us global positioning satellites,” said Jeremy Gray, a mathematical historian at the Milton Keynes, U.K-based Open University. “But it was enough to develop space travel.”

Below is a video showing Google’s new, photorealistic and animated Google Doodle for Issac Newton. (Pressing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button still launches the mid-90’s Geocities style New Year animation that’s been up a while.)