Isaac Newton
Mathematician · 1642-1727 · Mathematics, stage 3: Meet the mathematicians
Built the calculus and used it to derive the motion of the planets from one law of gravitation.
Overview
Newton developed his version of the calculus, which he called the method of fluxions, in the 1660s but published almost none of it for decades. The Principia of 1687 states three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation and derives from them the elliptical orbits Kepler had found empirically, showing that the same rule governs a falling body and a planet. The arguments in it are cast in classical geometry rather than in his own calculus notation, which makes the book harder to read now than its reputation suggests. The dispute with Leibniz over priority in the calculus occupied his later years and is now treated as a case of independent discovery. Start with the Definitions and Axioms at the front of the Principia in the English translation, which are short and readable, before deciding how far into Book I to go.
Where to start reading
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica 1687
The laws of motion and universal gravitation, with the orbits of the planets derived from them. The Gutenberg text is the English translation by Andrew Motte.
The Method of Fluxions 1736
His treatment of the calculus, written around 1671 and published nine years after his death.
Opticks 1704
His work on light and colour, written in English and organised around experiments, and much easier to read than the Principia.
Part of
Sources
- Isaac Newton MacTutor History of Mathematics
- Isaac Newton Wikipedia
