Yet we must not say that the sundial has lasted longer than its maker;
for Isaac Newton will exist long after the dial--yes, and long after the
sun itself--shall have crumbled to decay.

Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring knowledge by the
simplest means. For instance, what method do you suppose he took to
find out the strength of the wind? You will never guess how the boy
could compel that unseen, inconstant, and ungovernable wonder, the wind,
to tell him the measure of its strength. Yet nothing can be more
simple. He jumped against the wind; and by the length of his jump he
could calculate the force of a gentle breeze, a brisk gale, or a
tempest. Thus, even in his boyish sports, he was continually searching
out the secrets of philosophy.

Not far from his grandmother's residence there was a windmill which
operated on a new plan. Isaac was in the habit of going thither
frequently, and would spend whole hours in examining its various parts.
While the mill was at rest he pried into its internal machinery. When
its broad sails were set in motion by the wind, he watched the process
by which the mill-stones were made to revolve and crush the grain that
was put into the hopper. After gaining a thorough knowledge of its
construction he was observed to be unusually busy with his tools.

It was not long before his grandmother and all the neighborhood knew
what Isaac had been about. He had constructed a model of the windmill.
Though not so large, I suppose, as one of the box traps which boys set
to catch squirrels, yet every part of the mill and is machinery was
complete. Its little sails were neatly made of linen, and whirled round
very swiftly when the mill was placed in a draught of air. Even a puff
of wind from Isaac's mouth or from a pair of bellows was sufficient to