5447 AM · 1687 CE · world history
Newton and the Principia
One law of gravitation explains both a falling apple and the orbits of planets.
In the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy Newton states three laws of motion and universal gravitation, and derives from them planetary orbits, tides and cometary paths. Heaven and earth are described by the same equations for the first time. With calculus, this gave science the tools it still uses.
Sources
Documents of the period
- documents and chronicles of the period — the Principia (1687), published at Halley’s expense
Scholarship
- general histories of the region — the law of gravitation united terrestrial and celestial mechanics until Einstein
Basis: documents and evidence.