He's Grantham's most famous son and from this Friday the scientist Sir Isaac Newton will be celebrated in a new festival of science and the arts. Over eight days there'll be more than a hundred events in the town as James Webster reports:
Claudine King-Dabbs hit on the idea of producing an exhibition of original illustrations from the Ladybird books after seeing them while producing a documentary. Her vision will now form part of the Gravity Fields festival which she hopes will help to inspire a new generation of scientists.
As part of the festival an exhibition of original artwork used in the iconic Ladybird book series is being put on display at Grantham Museum. Combining science with art the full colour original illustrations will be showcased along with versions enlarged to banner size.
The director of the Gravity Fields festival says the inspiration for the event is Sir Isaac Newton who is still considered one of the most important scientists in the world. Rosemary Richards believes the town's connections to him could be as important as Shakespeare is for Stratford-upon-Avon.
A Sir Isaac Newton lookalike has been travelling around Grantham, complete with apple, to promote the upcoming Gravity Fields festival. He has been chatting to members of the public in the shadow of the Sir Isaac Newton statue which dominates the town centre.
Event organisers have set up a stall giving out free apples to promote the eight day festival which begins on Friday and say they have sensed a buzz around the town as they begin their final preparations.
Grantham is gearing up for the start of a week-long festival of science and the arts inspired by the town's most famous son, Sir Isaac Newton. More than 100 events will take place over eight days from Friday 21 September including shows, exhibitions, presentations and outdoor performances.
Organisers of the Gravity Fields festival say it will explore, celebrate and interpret some of the big thinking in today's world as well as look back at where the modern understanding of science began. They've planned a programme of ticketed and free events centred around a statue of the scientist.