Newton's Role
in the
scientific revolution
Newton's role in the scientific revolution
Sir Issac Newton's work is known to many as the culmination of the Scientific Revolution, by utilizing the advances made before him in mathematics, astronomy, and physics to derive an understanding of the world around him. In 1618, Johannes Kepler outlined his theory of planetary motion. Galileo first developed a basic idea of gravity and then explored the laws of motion on Earth. Newton ratified the laws of motion as started by Galileo and linked them to Kepler's law of planetary motion. Before Newton, no one had even imagined that the movements of heavenly bodies in the skies above would be governed by the same laws that controlled life here on Earth. |
"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants." -Sir Issac Newton |
Newton's discoveries
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (“Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”), which was first published in 1687 – laid the foundations for classical mechanics.
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, depicting how different bodies of matter exert force upon each other.
Newton's work on Calculus as shown in the
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. This image depicts Newton while he is experimenting the refraction of light by demonstrating that white light is in fact different colors of light in one.
|
In his magnum opus Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica which is fondly known as Principia to scientists, Newton builds upon Galileo's speculations about gravity and Kepler's theories on planetary motion. In it, he formulated his own laws of motion which were derived from Kepler's law of planetary motion and his own definition of gravity.
Newton's Laws of Motion
|
Newton's methods of introduction
In his monumental 1687 work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known familiarly as the Principia, Isaac Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of time, force, and motion that have guided the development of modern physical science. Even after more than three centuries and the revolutions of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, Newtonian physics continues to account for many of the phenomena of the observed world, and Newtonian celestial dynamics is used to determine the orbits of our space vehicles.
Opticks summarized Newton's discoveries and theories concerning light and color: the spectrum of the sunlight, the degrees of refraction associated with different colors, the color circle (the first in the history of color theory), the invention of the reflecting telescope; the first workable theory of the rainbow, and experiments on what would later be called "interference effects" in conjunction with Newton's rings. Unlike most of Newton's works, Opticks was originally published in English, with the Latin version following in 1706. The first edition of the Opticks ends with two mathematical treatises in Latin, written to establish his priority over Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the invention of the calculus. Arithmetica Universalis is a mathematics text by Isaac Newton. Written in Latin, it was edited and published by William Whiston, Newton's successor as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. The Arithmetica was based on Newton's lecture notes.The Arithmetica touches on algebraic notation, arithmetic, the relationship between geometry and algebra, and the solution of equations. Newton also applied Descartes' rule of signs to imaginary roots. He also offered, without proof, a rule to determine the number of imaginary roots of polynomial equations. Not for another 150 years would a rigorous proof to Newton's counting formula be found. -- You can see digital copies of these books here. |
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Opticks: Or, a Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light
Arithmetica Universalis: Sive De Compositione Et Resolutione Arithmetica Liber
|
Struggles newton faced
Newton faced issues with a man named Robert Hooke. He, a leader of Royal Society, claimed that he was the supreme authority of everything related to optics. Robert Hooke scribed a piece critiquing Newton's Optiks. Newton, unable to handle so much criticism, went to isolation.
In 1675, Newton was visiting London. Newton caught hold of a rumour in which Hooke had consented to Newton's theory of colors. But, as it later turned out, he did not. In the same year, Newton published the paper An Hypothesis Explaining the Properties of Light. Hooke stated that some content was plagiarised. With the assistance of a series of diplomatic and cordial letters, the pair resolved the issue at hand.
The English Jesuits in the town of Liège asserted that Newton's experiments were not done correctly. For six years, starting after his mother passed away in 1679, he remained in isolation, not contributing theories or ideas to science.
In 1675, Newton was visiting London. Newton caught hold of a rumour in which Hooke had consented to Newton's theory of colors. But, as it later turned out, he did not. In the same year, Newton published the paper An Hypothesis Explaining the Properties of Light. Hooke stated that some content was plagiarised. With the assistance of a series of diplomatic and cordial letters, the pair resolved the issue at hand.
The English Jesuits in the town of Liège asserted that Newton's experiments were not done correctly. For six years, starting after his mother passed away in 1679, he remained in isolation, not contributing theories or ideas to science.
Impact made by Newton
Newton's works was mainly a culmination of all the research that had been done before him (aforementioned).
In the pre-Newton time, astronomy was not quite based on reason. When he published his Principia, it became a
science (where before it was more of a philosophy, something to fantasize about). Astronomy could now be
considered a science.
Newton had inspired a few - especially his followers or students. One of which was Pierre Laplace (1749-1827).
He was called the "Newton of France." Laplace went forward from Newton's study of the universe. His most
popular theory was that of nebulas - where the Sun in our solar system had shed off planets.
Edward Halley used Newton's laws of motion to discover a few comets that have been orbiting the solar system through the ages. Newton's laws were also put to great use through the discovery of a new planet - Neptune. Scientists observed that Uranus's orbit was not following Newton's laws exactly. Urbain LeVerrier said that Uranus was being pulled by the gravity of another planet which was unseen. In 1846, Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, with the help of Le Verrier's calculations, tracked down the unseen planet only 1 degree in the sky away from where Le Verrier predicted it would be.
In the pre-Newton time, astronomy was not quite based on reason. When he published his Principia, it became a
science (where before it was more of a philosophy, something to fantasize about). Astronomy could now be
considered a science.
Newton had inspired a few - especially his followers or students. One of which was Pierre Laplace (1749-1827).
He was called the "Newton of France." Laplace went forward from Newton's study of the universe. His most
popular theory was that of nebulas - where the Sun in our solar system had shed off planets.
Edward Halley used Newton's laws of motion to discover a few comets that have been orbiting the solar system through the ages. Newton's laws were also put to great use through the discovery of a new planet - Neptune. Scientists observed that Uranus's orbit was not following Newton's laws exactly. Urbain LeVerrier said that Uranus was being pulled by the gravity of another planet which was unseen. In 1846, Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, with the help of Le Verrier's calculations, tracked down the unseen planet only 1 degree in the sky away from where Le Verrier predicted it would be.