2.16 Newton’s Mechanics
Isaac Newton (1642-1726 AD) is considered one of the most influential scientists in Western history. He laid the foundations of classical mechanics, in addition to his other contributions in optics. He is also credited, along with his contemporary philosopher Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716 AD), for developing the mathematical basis of infinitesimal calculus.
In the Principia, Newton formulated the laws of motion and gravitation, which allowed mathematical derivation of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, predicting the trajectories of comets, explaining tides and the precession of the equinoxes, in addition to other celestial and terrestrial motions. This theory removed all doubts about the validity of the heliocentric model. In return, this convinced most European scientists of the superiority of Newtonian mechanics over the earlier corpuscular mechanical philosophy that we have reviewed in section 13.