Article ID: CBB293607062

Lost in translation? Reading Newton on inverse-cube trajectories (2015)

unapi

This paper examines an annotation in Newton’s hand found by H. W. Turnbull in David Gregory’s papers in the Library of the Royal Society (London). It will be shown that Gregory asked Newton to explain to him how the trajectories of a body accelerated by an inverse-cube force are determined in a corollary in the Principia: an important topic for gravitation theory, since tidal forces are inverse cube. This annotation opens a window on the more hidden mathematical methods which Newton deployed in his magnum opus. The received view according to which the Principia are written in a geometric style with no help from calculus techniques must be revised.

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Authors & Contributors
Schliesser, Erick
Demeter, Tamás
Verelst, Karin
Pourciau, Bruce H.
Pisano, Raffaele
Nauenberg, Michael
Concepts
Physics
Philosophy of science
Mathematics
Newtonianism
Astronomy
Motion (physical)
Time Periods
18th century
17th century
Early modern
Modern
Enlightenment
19th century
Places
England
Scotland
France
Europe
Great Britain
Institutions
Royal Society of London
East India Company (English)
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