The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton: Volume 3: 1670-73 v. 3 (The Mathematical Papers of Sir Isaac Newton) by Isaac Newton

by Isaac Newton

Newton's mathematical researches during the last five years of his stay in Cambridge before leaving in April 1696 to take up his duties at the Mint in London have three main centres of methods of fluxions and series, classical pure geometry, and Cartesian analytical geometry. Part 1 reproduces Newton's advances at this time in further extending the techniques of his combined calculus of fluxions and fluent, and of expansion into infinite series. Part 2 gives publication of Newton's lengthy excursions in the early 1690s into the modes of geometrical analysis used by the 'ancient' geometers, based by way of Commandino's Latin translation on the account of this little understood field of the Greek 'topos analuomenos' which was given by Pappus in the prolegomenon to the seventh book of his Mathematical Collection. Part 3 gives prominence to the final text of the Enumeratio Linearum Tertii Ordinis which Newton put together in June 1695.

Genres: Science

Hardcover

First published June 27, 1969

About the author

Sir Isaac Newton, FRS , was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist. His Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, is considered to be the most influential book in the history of science. In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics, which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries and is the basis for modern engineering. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler's laws of planetary motion and his theory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts about heliocentrism and advancing the scientific revolution.

In mechanics, Newton enunciated the principles of conservation of momentum and angular momentum. In optics, he invented the reflecting telescope and developed a theory of colour based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into a visible spectrum. He also formulated an empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of sound.

In mathematics, Newton shares the credit with Gottfried Leibniz for the development of the differential and integral calculus. He also demonstrated the generalised binomial theorem, developed the so-called "Newton's method" for approximating the zeroes of a function, and contributed to the study of power series.

Newton was also highly religious (though unorthodox), producing more work on Biblical hermeneutics than the natural science he is remembered for today.

In a 2005 poll of the Royal Society asking who had the greater effect on the history of science, Newton was deemed much more influential than Albert Einstein.

Reviews

[El Gibran · Rating 5 out of 5]

key in math: if it seems easy, you do it wrong LOL