The System of the World - Illustrated

by Isaac Newton

The System of the World

Isaac Newton

The System of the World

Observing the Heavens

It was the ancient opinion of not a few, in the earliest ages of philosophy, that the fixed stars stood immoveable in the highest parts of the world; that, under the fixed stars the planets were carried about the sun; that the earth, us one of the planets, described an annual course about the sun, while by a diurnal motion it was in the mean time revolved about its own axis; and that the sun, as the common fire which served to warm the whole, was fixed in the centre of the universe.

This was the philosophy taught of old by Philolaus, Aristarchus of Samos, Plato in his riper years, and the whole sect of the Pythagoreans; and this was the judgment of Anaximander, more ancient than any of them; and of that wise king of the Romans, Numa Pompilius, who, as a symbol of the figure of the world with the sun in the centre, erected a temple in honour of Vesta, of a round form, and ordained perpetual fire to be kept in the middle of it.

The Egyptians were early observers of the heavens; and from them, probably, this philosophy was spread abroad among other nations; for from them it was, and the nations about them, that the Greeks, a people of themselves more addicted to the study of philology than of nature, derived their first, as well as soundest, notions of philosophy ; and in the vestal ceremonies we may yet trace the ancient spirit of the Egyptians; for it was their way to deliver their mysteries, that is, their philosophy of things above the vulgar way of thinking, under the veil of religious rites and hieroglyphic symbols.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Physics, Classics, Mathematics, History

78 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1728

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

[Íris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eu não vou dar avaliação.
Existe um motivo para isso: como posso dar avaliação de um livro que eu não sei avaliar?
Eu sou apreciadora de astronomia e astrofísica, mas infelizmente não passo de uma amadora: falta-me o saber científico.
Neil deGrasse Tyson recomendou este como um dos livros indispensáveis a quem se interessa por astronomia, mas eu nunca fui boa aluna a matemática e nunca tive a oportunidade de estudar física, então para mim isto era uma linguagem ininteligível e confusa.
Eu percebi algumas coisas, como o fato de ele calcular não só as órbitas dos planetas e satélites como as órbitas de outros corpos celestes (meteoritos e meteoros). No entanto, é tudo demasiado técnico e eu não tenho essa experiência.
De qualquer forma, reconheço que foi um livro imprescindível a outros cientistas depois de Newton, que ajudou no desenvolvimento do telescópio, entre outros cálculos que ajudaram à descoberta das ondas fora do espectro vísivel e, consequentemente, a invenção de satélites espaciais, entre outras invenções.

[Stefanie]

I read this for Neil deGrasse Tyson's list of eight books every intelligent person should read. I don't feel like I can give it a rating because I didn't follow any of the math, but I did enjoy Newton's arrogance. It was amazing how much people could learn in the 1600s with the limited technology and religious influences that surrounded scientists.

[Margaret]

Dear me: Archive.org has the full text for free: http://www.archive.org/stream/newtons...

[Michael Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ye olde scientific study

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

e book review: A challenging science book but a rewarding reading experience to appreciate the powers of observation and mathematics. A discussion of the scientific proofs on the motion of the planets by Newton.

The Dr. Tyson book challenge:

http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/ne...

[Ezechel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind blown. Almost accurate description of the solar system dynamics - almost 300 years ago! - plus the beginning of modern calculus. A bit too many OCR errors for the Kindle edition, but nothing that you can't figure out from the context.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and humbling.

[Paul Seleznev · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's great to see how some human-beings can transmit thoughts firstly seen as too hard with such an ease.

[Jessica]

Neil says to read this book: "to learn of our kinship with all other life on earth"

[Víctor Cid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Título póstumo del gran físico inglés, realizado con sus cuadernos, anotaciones, cartas y demás apuntes. El libro resulta un poco desordenado y de una lectura a veces tediosa, o eso me ha parecido. Cita en numerosas ocasiones teoremas de los Principia, sus leyes fundamentales de la física o la ley de la Gravitación Universal, así como conversaciones con otros gandes de la época como Kepler y Tycho Brahe. Me llama la atención como con tan pocos medios eran capaces de conocer con tanta precisión las órbitas de los planetas y demás cuerpos del sistema solar, aunque el auténtico mérito se encuentra en que precisamente eran físicos teóricos y estaban dando los pasos en la dirección correcta.

[Tamara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is difficult read that reminds me of the days of plowing my way through Calculus. Although painful, it's a humbling experience to realize my limited intelligence and desire to be this focused on a subject. I accept the moon is out there at a given distance and travel at an arc around the earth. In addition, I appreciate the brilliance of the people that made these discovers. But, I do not want to read the details.

In addition, I do not want to read the never ending detail about water tides. I did however have an ah ha moment when water rises in one place it must recede someplace else. Dah ....

Well, bottom line, it's not an exciting book.

[Hrmcginty · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars to Newton's obvious contribution to science but tbh I didn't understand 99% of what I read.

[Trounin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Чтобы понять, почему предположения Ньютона следует считать истинными, нужно ознакомиться с приводимыми им правилами для умозаключений в физике. Исходить приходится из понимания достижений науки на определённый момент времени. Более имеющегося Ньютон брать не предлагает. Нельзя уходить в измышлениях в доселе скрытые материи. Всё требуется объяснять посредством проведённых опытов. Ньютон провёл оные, о чём написаны первая и вторая книги, подготовив доказательства для обоснования собственной системы мира.

(c) Trounin

[Red Tide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Newton rules

Before reading this, take a look at my review of "Dark Horse", a good story by Diener or Powers of the Earth (a bad story) and its comments. If you couldn't be bothered, please don't bother with my reviews.

GLORY TO UKRAINE !!!!

I was curious about the book and it was reasonably priced and It's Isaac Newton. I was more curious about what the language would be like. Knowing the basics of gravitational attraction and the impact of speed of an object and size of the attractor on an orbital path is everyday knowledge thanks to him.

To see orbital mechanics explained using only logic, geometry and millennia of observation was kind of mind blowing. He writes it so matter of factly and in the late 17th century. It only took materials science, engineering and propulsion advancement about 250 years to catch up.

It's a short piece and it probably only matters if you're in the mood to nerd out. If so, you might like reading this.

Curiosity Stream/Nebula gives me a good selection of educational video and at $15 USD for a year's subscription, it's worth a look.

For a real community of readers, I suggest YouTube. I found channels on my other interests as well. Some favorites are.

UA Courage, Tara Mooknee, StatQuest, Novara Media, Tom Nicholas, Some More News, Munecat, Art by Annamarie, The Narrowboat Pirate, Adult Wednesday Addams, What Vivi did next, The Great War, Sabine Hossenfelder, Real Engineering, The History of the Universe, History Scope, History Hit, 2Cellos, Lindsey Stirling, Storyworldling, Daniel Rubin, Katie Colson, Rebecca Watson, Dakota Warren, Lady of the Library, AstronautX, Between the Wars, Between the Lines, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, A Cup of Nicole, Noelle Gallagher, Diane Callahan Quotidian Writer, The Armchair Historian, History Marche, The Gravel Institute, The Royal Institution, 2Cellos, Steam punk, Luciana Zogbi, Kings and Generals, Lilly's expat life, Invicta, Tibees, Mythic Concepts, With Olivia, Perun, The Narrowboat Chef, Camper Vibe, Austin McConnell, Elena Taber, Christy Anne Jones, Books with Chloe, Lady of the Library.

I wish you a sunny morning, a productive afternoon, a fantastic evening and a wonderful night.

The extant of our humanity is dependent on our ability to empathize.

[Pancho Pantera]

Si Dios hubiese puesto al principio un cierto grado de movimiento en las cosas y después este movimiento solo se distribuyese por choque parece que iría decreciendo continuamente en su movimiento por el efecto de los choques contrarios sin ser capaz de recuperarlo nunca y que el universo caería muy pronto en tal estado de reposo que ello supondría la muerte del todo. La fuerza de Atracción que siempre subsiste y no se ve debilitada por su ejercicio es una fuente perpetua de acción y de vida. Puede suceder igualmente que los efectos de esta fuerza

[Vin Perry-french · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short but incredibly difficult book to read. I have an interest in space, astronomy and science but this book delves quite deep into the working of the solar system. My difficulties came from the language used (obviously I am aware it was written sometime ago). Not recommended for anyone but the most dedicated science historians for you can get all this information in much clearer (and up to date) way for any number of current books

[AsimovsZeroth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be short and sweet, because I really don’t have much to say about this book. I picked it up from historical curiosity more than anything else. Honestly thought it was going to be a lot more math heavy and I was pretty intimidated. While there are a few bits and pieces that were technical, I mostly found his writing to be straightforward. It’s a pretty quick read, so certainly worth it for anyone who is curious.

[El Gibran · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...I just like a boy who plays a ball on the sea-shore...."

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first bit was interesting where he describes his famous laws of motion. After that it is a challenging series of proofs.

[Reza Edriawan]

Can anyone please give some review? I really really interested in science and this book, but is it worth my money?

[Rishabh Maurya]

i will read

[Wes Holton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may have understood more going in with a basic understanding of calculus, but still interesting reading about the forces working upon the planets, moons, tides, etc.