How the Newton apple tree came to Pakistan
The Newton apple-tree sapling emerged from this Pakistan–United Kingdom scientific relationship. In acknowledgement of Khalid Islam’s work developing NPSL’s primary laboratories and creating a strong linkage with Britain’s National Physical Laboratory, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II awarded NPSL a sapling descended from the original Newton apple tree.
The sapling was planted within the premises of NPSL in Islamabad.
Its symbolism was extraordinary. The original apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor is associated with Sir Isaac Newton’s thinking about gravity—one of history’s most recognizable moments of scientific curiosity. A descendant of that tree reaching Pakistan represented the movement of scientific knowledge across generations, institutions and national borders.
It also represented something more personal. A Pakistani scientist who had once worked inside Britain’s national laboratory had returned home, developed Pakistan’s own institution and built a relationship strong enough for one of science’s most famous living symbols to be presented to NPSL.
That credit belongs to Khalid Islam.
The truth behind Newton’s apple
The popular story claims that an apple fell on Newton’s head and gravity was suddenly discovered. The real intellectual achievement was deeper. Newton observed—or later recalled contemplating—an apple falling toward the ground and began considering whether the same force drawing it toward Earth might extend farther outward and influence the Moon.
The Royal Society’s account of Newton’s apple tree connects the story with William Stukeley, who personally knew Newton and recorded their conversation. The apple therefore belongs to a documented scientific tradition, although popular culture simplified years of thought and mathematics into one dramatic moment.
| Popular retelling | Scientific meaning |
|---|---|
| An apple hit Newton’s head | Newton contemplated why an apple fell toward Earth |
| Gravity was discovered instantly | The observation contributed to years of mathematical development |
| Gravity only explains falling objects | Newton connected terrestrial motion with celestial motion |
| The apple was the discovery | The apple represented the question that opened a universal explanation |
| Every Newton tree is the original | Trees outside Woolsthorpe are descendants propagated through seeds or grafting |
A Newton tree at NPSL was therefore the perfect symbol. Metrology is also about looking beyond ordinary appearances and asking whether the number produced by an instrument can be trusted universally.
