How did Isaac Newton challenge the Aristotelian ideas taught at Cambridge?

When Isaac Newton arrived at the University of Cambridge in 1661, the curriculum remained a stronghold of outmoded Aristotelianism, which relied on a geocentric view of the universe and qualitative descriptions of nature.1

Newton challenged these traditional scholastic teachings by independently immersing himself in the works of the Scientific Revolution, particularly the mechanical philosophy of René Descartes and the atomism of Pierre Gassendi. He documented this intellectual shift in his notebook, Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae ("Certain Philosophical Questions"), where he famously inscribed the slogan: "Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is truth".1

By adopting a mechanical view of nature—which interpreted physical reality as particles of matter in motion—Newton moved away from Aristotelian concepts of "natural place" and "qualitative" physics. He further challenged ancient theories, such as the Aristotelian belief that colors were modifications of white light, by demonstrating through experiments that light is a complex, heterogeneous mixture of components. Ultimately, his work replaced the discredited Aristotelian worldview with a coherent system of classical mechanics.1234