Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton was born on Dec. 25, 1642, in Woolsthorpe, England. His father died before he was born, and when he was only three his mother, Hannah Newton, remarried and moved away, leaving him to be raised by an uncle. He was sent to the local grammar school, and for a time it was expected that he would grow up to manage his mother's property. But he nonetheless persisted in the pursuit of his wider interests, and after leaving the grammar school he enrolled at Trinity College, at the University of Cambridge, in 1661. He received his bachelor of arts in 1665, and was named a fellow of the College two years later.
Meanwhile, in the turbulent year of 1666, while England fought with Holland and suffered plague and a terrible fire in London, Newton made three of his greatest discoveries. In the field of optics, the study of light, he developed and proved his theory that white light is composed of a mixture of other colors of light, which, when split apart by a prism, form a band of color called a spectrum. This was a revolutionary advance, and equally revolutionary was his work in mathematics, where he developed a binomial theorem and worked out a method of calculating the slope of curves and the area under them, paving the way for the field of math known as calculus. But his most important innovation was the concept of gravity, the attraction between bodies in space that holds planets, moons and comets in orbit, and draws falling objects toward the earth. His theory of gravity, however, remained incomplete and unverifiable; it would not be published for two decades.
In 1669, Newton was appointed professor of mathematics at Trinity College. In January 1672, he was elected to the Royal Society, a loose organizations of scientists and intellectuals. Shortly thereafter, he presented a paper detailing his discoveries in optics, and developed a rivalry with the scientist Robert Hooke, who harshly criticized Newton's research. This rivalry would percolate throughout the 1670s, as Newton continued to work out the mathematics of gravity, and would flare up in the mid 1680s, when Newton finally published his work, some of which Hooke felt had been stolen from him. Newton's research was organized into a three-volume book, the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), known to posterity as the Principia. It set forth Newton's three laws of motion, and proceeded to set forth the theory of gravitation, and back it up with rigorous mathematical proofs. Although the theory had many detractors at first, the scientific community would ltimately embrace it, and the Newtonian world-view would dominate physics until the 20th century.
Principia made Newton an English celebrity. He was elected to Parliament in 1691, and after surviving a nervous breakdown in 1693, was appointed warden of the mint in 1696, and master of the mint three years later. He was elected president of the Royal Society in 1703, upon the death of Hooke, and was knighted in 1705. As his fame grew, he worked to buttress his own reputation, bringing the Society under his tight control and carrying on a feud with the German mathematician Leibniz over the issue of who had developed calculus first. Newton never married, and was tremendously pious: he dedicated his later years to the interpretation of scripture, and a mighty effort to understand the relationship between biblical prophecy and history. He died on March 20, 1727, and was buried with great honors in Westminster Abbey.

 By: Aman Sherwani

Ustad Ibrahim Zouq

Ab to ghabra ke ye kahte hain ke mar jayenge 

Mar ke bhi chain na paya to kidhar jayenge

Zauq was a prominent contemporary of Ghalib and in the history of Urdu poetry the rivalry of the two poets is quite well known. During his lifetime Zauq was more popular than Ghalib for the critical values in those days were mainly confined to judging a piece of poetry on the basis of usage of words, phrases and idioms. Content and style were barely taken into account while appreciating poetry 

He was born at Delhi in 1789. His father, Shaikh Mohammed Ramzan was a lowly placed soldier in the Mughal army. It was no less than a miracle that Zauq, without having the proper treatment on account of the penury of his family, survived the attacks of a dreaded malady like small pox nine times during his childhood. His father had no means to equip his son with the best available education of the time. He was sent to a maktab (elementary religious school) that was run by Hafiz Ghulam Rasool. Hafiz himself was a poet and used Shauq as his nom de plume. Under his influence the young Mohammed Ibrahim also got attracted towards poetry. Hafiz provided the required encouragement, took him as his pupil in poetry too and suggested Zauq as his nom de plume. Though Zauq could not complete the course of the maktab, he got hooked to poetry. In those days Shah Naseer was the most famous master poet of Delhi. Zauq began showing his ghazals to Shah Naseer for improvement. Naseer recognized the natural talent and made him his pupil. Gradually, Zauq began participating in the mushairas. His natural bent of mind towards poetry coupled with his singular obsession to excel in the pursuit brought him fame and fortune. He would be better appreciated in the mushairas than his mentor. Shah Naseer got very annoyed with the growing popularity of Zauq. He threw him out of the group of his pupils. Zauq, thereafter, relied only on his talent and continued writing poetry with a vengeance. 

Another poet, Meer Kazim Husain Beqarar, a friend of Zauq's was appointed the mentor of the Crown Prince Zafar, who later ascended the throne. Through him Zauq could got the chance to enter the royal court. He also started participating in the royal mushairas. When Beqarar took up the job of Meer Munshi (Head Clerk) in the Office of John Elphinstone, Crown Prince Zafar appointed Zauq as his mentor with a monthly salary of Rs. 4- that was ultimately raised to Rs. 100- when Bahadur Shah Zafar ascended the throne. He remained the poet laureate of the Mughal Court till his death in 1854. 

Zauq’s reputation in Urdu poetry is because of his eulogies that reflect his command over the language and his expertise in composing poetry in extremely difficult meters. Since he got associated with the royal court right from his teens and remained there till his death, he had to write mostly eulogies to seek the patronage and rewards from the princes and the King. His mentor, Shah Naseer, would also pay attention only to the linguistic eloquence and mastery over prosody. Zauq also emulated the example of his mentor. Such style of poetry suits eulogy writing. Many critics regard him a great eulogy writer next only to Sauda. 

His ghazals also have some literary values. Since Bahadur Shah Zafar was fond of using simple and colloquial diction, Zauq too composed his ghazals using simple words, phrases of everyday use and similes rooted in the common culture. His ghazals are also notable for their spontaneity. Zauq was a deeply religious man. In his ghazals too he would deal with religious and ethical themes. Therefore, his ghazals lack lyricism and appear to be the verses of a preacher. 

Major portion of Zauq’s poetical output got lost because mutiny of 1857. Maulana Mohammed Husain Azad compiled a slim volume of his poetry with the help of his pupils like Hafiz, Veeran, Anwar and Zaheer that contains twelve hundred couplets of Ghazals and fifteen Eulogies.

 By: Gulraiz Kamal

Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Hui muddat ki "GHALIB" mar gaya par yaad aata hai.......!!!

Woh har ek baat pe kehna ke yoon hota to kya hota……..

Mirza Ghalib was born on 27 December 1797  in Agra into a family descended from Aibak Turks who moved to Samarkand after the downfall of the Seljuk kings. His paternal grandfather, Mirza Qoqan Baig Khan was a Saljuq Turk who had immigrated to India from Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan) during the reign of the Ahmad Shah (1748–54). He worked at Lahore, Delhi, and Jaipur, was awarded the subdistrict of Pahasu (Bulandshahr, UP) and finally settled in Agra, UP, India. He had 4 sons and 3 daughters. Mirza Abdullah Baig Khan and Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan were two of his sons. Mirza Abdullah Baig Khan (Ghalibs father) got married to Izzat-ut-Nisa Begum, and then lived at the house of his father in law. He was employed first by the Nawab of Lucknow and then the Nizam of Hyderabad, Deccan. He died in a battle in 1803 in Alwar and was buried at Rajgarh (Alwar, Rajasthan). Then Ghalib was a little over 5 years of age. He was raised first by his Uncle Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan.
Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan (Ghalibs uncle) started taking care of the three orphaned children. He was the governor of Agra under the Marathas. The British appointed him an officer of 400 cavalrymen,fixed his salary at Rs.1700.00 month, and awarded him 2 parganas in Mathura (UP, India). When he died in 1806, the British took away the parganas and fixed his pension as Rs. 10,000 per year, linked to the state of Firozepur Jhirka (Mewat, Haryana). The Nawab of Ferozepur Jhirka reduced the pension to Rs. 3000per year. Ghalibs share was Rs. 62.50 / month. Ghalib was married at age 13 to Umrao Begum, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh (brother of the Nawab of Ferozepur Jhirka). He soon moved to Delhi, along with his younger brother, Mirza Yousuf Khan, who had developed schizophrenia at a young age and later died in Delhi during the chaos of 1857.[4]
In accordance with upper class Muslim tradition, he had an arranged marriage at the age of 13, but none of his seven children survived beyond infancy. After his marriage he settled in Delhi. In one of his letters he describes his marriage as the second imprisonment after the initial confinement that was life itself. The idea that life is one continuous painful struggle which can end only when life itself ends is a recurring theme in his poetry. One of his couplets puts it in a nutshell……. 

By: Gulraiz kamal

Labron Raymone James

LeBron Raymone James, nicknamed "King James", is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) small forward who has also played as a power forward, he has been an NBA champion, the NBA Finals MVP, a three-time NBA MVP, and the NBA Rookie of the Year. James is an eight-time NBA All-Star, and has been named to eight All-NBA teams and four All-Defensive teams. He is also the Cleveland Cavaliers' all-time leading scorer, and holds other franchise records for both the Cavaliers and the Heat.

James played high school basketball at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. A three-time "Mr. Basketball of Ohio", he was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar. After graduating, he was selected with the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2010, he left the Cavaliers for the Heat in a highly publicized free agency period. In 2012, he led Miami to their second NBA title in franchise history, winning his first overall. His career achievements and leadership role during the Heat's 2012 championship run have led a majority of basketball analysts, experts, and writers to consider him the best player in the NBA today.

Off the court, James has accumulated considerable wealth and fame as a result of numerous endorsement contracts. His public life has been the subject of much scrutiny, and he has been ranked as one of America's most disliked and influential athletes. He has also been featured in books, documentaries, and television commercials, and has hosted the ESPY Awards and Saturday Night Live

 His early life and youth
James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio, to a 16-year-old mother, Gloria Marie James. Growing up, life was often a struggle for James and his mother, who raised her son by herself. The two moved around frequently as Gloria was never able to land steady work, and her taste in men was often questionable, with one of them, Eddie Jackson, going to prison in 1990 for aggravated cocaine trafficking. Embarrassed by his home life, James didn't make friends easily at school and had all but dropped out by the fourth grade.
James used sports as an outlet to take out his frustrations, favoring basketball and football. In his first year of Pee-Wee Football, he formed a bond with his coach Frankie Walker, who arranged with Gloria for James to live with the Walkers to stabilize James' living environment. The structure of the Walker household worked wonders for James, who began attending school regularly again. After 18 months of living with the Walkers, Gloria took James back before financial problems arose and she returned him back to the Walkers. For the remainder of James' high school career, he could always call the Walkers' house home no matter where he lived. While James was with the Walkers, he became close friends with three boys: Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee. Inseparable, they played AAU basketball together, reaching the 1999 AAU National Championship Tournament and dubbing themselves the "Fab Four" The group stirred local controversy when they chose to attend high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary, a largely white school, instead of their local public school. During their sophomore year, they added a final member to their group named Romeo Travis. Nicknamed the "Akron Fab Five", their friendship later became the subject of a documentary titled More Than a Game.
 NBA Career

James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the number one overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. In his first professional game he recorded 25 points, setting an NBA record for most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut outing. He also added 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals on 60 percent shooting. Originally, he was scheduled to compete in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest but was forced to withdraw because of an ankle injury. In a late season match-up with the New Jersey Nets, he scored a season-high 41 points, becoming the youngest player in league history at 19 years old to score at least 40 points in a game. James was eventually named the 2003–04 NBA Rookie of the Year, finishing with averages of 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game. He also became the first Cavalier to receive the honor and joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in their rookie season (Tyreke Evans has since joined this group). Despite James' award-worthy play and an 18-game improvement over the previous season, Cleveland failed to make the playoffs.

In 2004, James was selected to the United States national team for the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The team finished the competition with a bronze medal, becoming the first USA squad to return home without a gold medal since NBA professionals became eligible. Limited to 14.6 minutes per game, James averaged just 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.

Next, James set his sights on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. At the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, he took on a greater role for Team USA, averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as co-captain. The squad finished the competition with an 8–1 record, again failing to win a gold medal and leaving with a bronze. Having failed to win the World Championship, Team USA were forced to compete at Americas Championships 2007 to qualify for the Olympics. During the tournament's championship game against Argentina, James recorded 31 points, the most ever by an American in an Olympic qualifier, as Team USA finally captured gold medal honors, officially qualifying for the 2008 Olympics. For the tournament, he averaged 18.1 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on a tournament-high 76 percent shooting and 62.2 percent three-point shooting percentage. At the Olympics, Team USA reclaimed the gold medal, defeating Spain 118–107 in the final game. James turned in 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists as the team went unbeaten, winning their first gold medal since 2000. It was later reported that he was originally at risk for not being included on the national team's roster due to his immaturity and "downright disrespectfulness".

James did not play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, citing his busy schedule during the summer.^[ He was selected for the 2012 United States Olympic team to compete in London, where he recorded the first triple double (11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists)  in Olympic basketball history against the Australia men's national basketball team. He also helped the team to their second straight gold medal in a 107–100 victory against Spain, in which he had 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. In the fourth quarter, LeBron made a dunk that tied him with David Robinson for the USA's all-time scoring lead, but a three with under two minutes left gave him the top spot with 273 points all-time. With the U.S. winning the gold medal, James joined Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen as the only players to have won NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (a feat Pippen achieved twice). James also became the only player other than Jordan to have won an NBA championship and an NBA MVP award in the same year as winning an Olympic gold medal.

By: Kazim Agha