Principia : Vol. 1 The Motion of Bodies

by Isaac Newton

the classic work

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Physics, Mathematics, Reference

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

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

[Matt Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to be completely honest...I finished this book, but I have no idea what I read. Newton's geometric arguments are -for most of us- so passe as to seem unintelligible. Nonetheless, this is a landmark achievement in human understanding and at least an attempt should be made at reading it.

[F_lizt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may be the best scientific book in all of history, not only because of what it came to contribute at the time, the theory of universal gravitation, calculating the mass of planets and even a small religious explanation.

[Trounin · Rating 3 out of 5]

В третьей книге Ньютон скажет, что нет нужды вчитываться и разбираться в содержании первой и второй книг. Для понимания его предположений достаточно ознакомиться с предлагаемыми им определениями и первыми тремя отделами первой книги, чтобы сразу непосредственно перейти к ознакомлению с третьей книгой, ибо именно её содержание является важным и определяющим для «Математических начал». Такое предложение от Ньютона звучит вполне разумно, учитывая построение труда.

(c) Trounin

[El Gibran · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite scientist XD