Western Civilization II / Unit 5 WC2 0410 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Newton's Principia, 1687: One Law for Planets and Pebbles
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The idea
Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy of sixteen eighty-seven gave one universal law of gravitation for planets and the smallest objects, and all of physics in formulas. The witness: Kepler and Galileo gave the theory credibility, and the work culminated in the Principia.
In practice
Aristotle and Ptolemy became history of thought, not science.
Where people slip
The exam's chain: Kepler and Galileo, then Newton.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- 0411Newton's Other Work, and the Man
- 0420The Mechanical Universe and Deism
- 0425Sorting Scientists by Field: Who Preceded Newton
- 0426Sequencing the Scientific Revolution, 1543 to 1687
- 0430From Describing the World to Discovering It: What the Revolution Changed
- 0504Newton as Cause: Laws of Nature, Laws of Human Nature
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