Isaac Newton – författare

New to Penguin Classics, the astonishing story of the Copernican Revolution, told through the words of the ground-breaking scientists who brought it aboutIn the late fifteenth century, it was believed that the earth stood motionless at the centre of a small, ordered cosmos. Just over two centuries later, everything had changed. Not only was the sun the centre of creation, but the entire practice of science had been revolutionised. This is the story of that astonishing transformation, told through the words of the astronomers and mathematicians at its heart. Bringing together excerpts from the works and letters of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and others for the first time, The Dawn of Modern Cosmology is the definitive record of one of the great turning points in human history.Edited with Translations, Notes and an Introduction by Aviva Rothman

In his monumental 1687 work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known familiarly as the Principia, Isaac Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of time, force, and motion that have guided the development of modern physical science. Even after more than three centuries and the revolutions of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, Newtonian physics continues to account for many of the phenomena of the observed world, and Newtonian celestial dynamics is used to determine the orbits of our space vehicles. This authoritative, modern translation by I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman, the first in more than 285 years, is based on the 1726 edition, the final revised version approved by Newton; it includes extracts from the earlier editions, corrects errors found in earlier versions, and replaces archaic English with contemporary prose and up-to-date mathematical forms. Newton's principles describe acceleration, deceleration, and inertial movement; fluid dynamics; and the motions of the earth, moon, planets, and comets. A great work in itself, the Principia also revolutionized the methods of scientific investigation.It set forth the fundamental three laws of motion and the law of universal gravity, the physical principles that account for the Copernican system of the world as emended by Kepler, thus effectively ending controversy concerning the Copernican planetary system. The translation - only edition of this preeminent work is truly accessible for today's scientists, scholars, and students.

In his monumental 1687 work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known familiarly as the Principia, Isaac Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of time, force, and motion that have guided the development of modern physical science. Even after more than three centuries and the revolutions of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, Newtonian physics continues to account for many of the phenomena of the observed world, and Newtonian celestial dynamics is used to determine the orbits of our space vehicles. This authoritative, modern translation by I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman, the first in more than 285 years, is based on the 1726 edition, the final revised version approved by Newton; it includes extracts from the earlier editions, corrects errors found in earlier versions, and replaces archaic English with contemporary prose and up-to-date mathematical forms. Newton's principles describe acceleration, deceleration, and inertial movement; fluid dynamics; and the motions of the earth, moon, planets, and comets. A great work in itself, the Principia also revolutionized the methods of scientific investigation.It set forth the fundamental three laws of motion and the law of universal gravity, the physical principles that account for the Copernican system of the world as emended by Kepler, thus effectively ending controversy concerning the Copernican planetary system. The translation - only edition of this preeminent work is truly accessible for today's scientists, scholars, and students.

In his monumental 1687 work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known familiarly as the Principia, Isaac Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of time, force, and motion that have guided the development of modern physical science. Even after more than three centuries and the revolutions of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, Newtonian physics continues to account for many of the phenomena of the observed world, and Newtonian celestial dynamics is used to determine the orbits of our space vehicles. This authoritative, modern translation by I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman, the first in more than 285 years, is based on the 1726 edition, the final revised version approved by Newton; it includes extracts from the earlier editions, corrects errors found in earlier versions, and replaces archaic English with contemporary prose and up-to-date mathematical forms. Newton's principles describe acceleration, deceleration, and inertial movement; fluid dynamics; and the motions of the earth, moon, planets, and comets. A great work in itself, the Principia also revolutionized the methods of scientific investigation.It set forth the fundamental three laws of motion and the law of universal gravity, the physical principles that account for the Copernican system of the world as emended by Kepler, thus effectively ending controversy concerning the Copernican planetary system. The illuminating Guide to Newton's Principia by I. Bernard Cohen makes this preeminent work truly accessible for today's scientists, scholars, and students. Designed with collectors in mind, this deluxe edition has faux leather binding covered with a beautiful dustjacket.

In his monumental 1687 work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known familiarly as the Principia, Isaac Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of time, force, and motion that have guided the development of modern physical science. Even after more than three centuries and the revolutions of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, Newtonian physics continues to account for many of the phenomena of the observed world, and Newtonian celestial dynamics is used to determine the orbits of our space vehicles. This authoritative, modern translation by I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman, the first in more than 285 years, is based on the 1726 edition, the final revised version approved by Newton; it includes extracts from the earlier editions, corrects errors found in earlier versions, and replaces archaic English with contemporary prose and up-to-date mathematical forms. Newton's principles describe acceleration, deceleration, and inertial movement; fluid dynamics; and the motions of the earth, moon, planets, and comets. A great work in itself, the Principia also revolutionized the methods of scientific investigation.It set forth the fundamental three laws of motion and the law of universal gravity, the physical principles that account for the Copernican system of the world as emended by Kepler, thus effectively ending controversy concerning the Copernican planetary system. The illuminating Guide to Newton's Principia by I. Bernard Cohen makes this pre-eminent work truly accessible for today's scientists, scholars, and students. Designed with collectors in mind, this beautiful and deluxe cloth edition will hold a place of honor on any bookshelf.

Sir Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and His System of the World is one of the most influential scientific works in history, laying the mathematical and physical foundations for classical mechanics and the universal laws of motion. This second volume, The System of the World, presents Newton’s extension of his mathematical principles to a comprehensive model of the cosmos, transforming our understanding of planetary motion, gravity, and celestial mechanics. Originally intended for a broader audience, Newton ultimately chose a more rigorous, mathematical approach, ensuring that his conclusions could withstand scrutiny and avoid misinterpretation by those unfamiliar with his foundational principles.In this volume, Newton applies his celebrated Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation to explain the structure and behavior of the solar system, deriving conclusions that not only validated the heliocentric model but also provided a predictive framework for planetary and cometary orbits. His meticulous use of propositions and mathematical proofs exemplifies his commitment to empirical reasoning and the synthesis of observational astronomy with physics. The System of the World is not merely an extension of Newton’s earlier theoretical work but a definitive application of those principles, demonstrating how celestial bodies move in accordance with natural laws. Essential reading for historians of science, physicists, and philosophers alike, this volume remains a cornerstone of the scientific revolution, showcasing Newton’s unparalleled ability to unite abstract mathematics with the observable universe.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1962.

This edition presents Andrew Motte’s 1729 English translation of Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, thoroughly revised and annotated by historian Florian Cajori (with R. T. Crawford stewarding the final publication after Cajori’s death in 1930). It opens with a portrait and Halley’s celebratory ode, then the prefaces to the first three Latin editions, where Newton defines “rational mechanics” as the mathematical study of motion and forces, and declares his program: from phenomena infer forces, then from forces deduce further phenomena. Book I develops the mathematical tools (limits, conics, central forces, apsidal motion, pendula), proving that orbits with equal-areas law imply centripetal attraction. Book II treats motion in resisting media—drag proportional to velocity or its square, hydrostatics, pendular resistance, and waves—bridging ideal dynamics and real fluids. Book III applies the theory to the heavens, stating “Rules of Reasoning,” listing “Phenomena,” and deriving universal gravitation, lunar nodes, tides, precession, cometary paths, and the *General Scholium*. A separate “System of the World” offers a more synthetic exposition. Cajori’s extensive appendix supplies historical and explanatory notes throughout.Cotes’s preface to the second edition champions Newton’s experimental philosophy against scholastic “occult qualities” and Cartesian vortices. He argues from terrestrial gravitation and pendulum experiments to mutual attraction, then by Keplerian area and period–distance laws to centripetal forces inversely as the square of distance, unifying moon, planets, and comets under a single gravitational principle. The prefaces chronicle Newton’s method (analysis from phenomena; synthesis to prediction), Halley’s role in pressing publication, and later refinements to lunar theory, precession, comet orbits, and fluid resistance. Altogether, the volume frames the *Principia* as both a mathematical edifice and a philosophical watershed: geometry and experiment joined to reveal a world governed not by speculative mechanisms but by demonstrable universal laws.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1934.

Sir Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and His System of the World is one of the most influential scientific works in history, laying the mathematical and physical foundations for classical mechanics and the universal laws of motion. This second volume, The System of the World, presents Newton’s extension of his mathematical principles to a comprehensive model of the cosmos, transforming our understanding of planetary motion, gravity, and celestial mechanics. Originally intended for a broader audience, Newton ultimately chose a more rigorous, mathematical approach, ensuring that his conclusions could withstand scrutiny and avoid misinterpretation by those unfamiliar with his foundational principles.In this volume, Newton applies his celebrated Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation to explain the structure and behavior of the solar system, deriving conclusions that not only validated the heliocentric model but also provided a predictive framework for planetary and cometary orbits. His meticulous use of propositions and mathematical proofs exemplifies his commitment to empirical reasoning and the synthesis of observational astronomy with physics. The System of the World is not merely an extension of Newton’s earlier theoretical work but a definitive application of those principles, demonstrating how celestial bodies move in accordance with natural laws. Essential reading for historians of science, physicists, and philosophers alike, this volume remains a cornerstone of the scientific revolution, showcasing Newton’s unparalleled ability to unite abstract mathematics with the observable universe.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1962.

This edition presents Andrew Motte’s 1729 English translation of Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, thoroughly revised and annotated by historian Florian Cajori (with R. T. Crawford stewarding the final publication after Cajori’s death in 1930). It opens with a portrait and Halley’s celebratory ode, then the prefaces to the first three Latin editions, where Newton defines “rational mechanics” as the mathematical study of motion and forces, and declares his program: from phenomena infer forces, then from forces deduce further phenomena. Book I develops the mathematical tools (limits, conics, central forces, apsidal motion, pendula), proving that orbits with equal-areas law imply centripetal attraction. Book II treats motion in resisting media—drag proportional to velocity or its square, hydrostatics, pendular resistance, and waves—bridging ideal dynamics and real fluids. Book III applies the theory to the heavens, stating “Rules of Reasoning,” listing “Phenomena,” and deriving universal gravitation, lunar nodes, tides, precession, cometary paths, and the *General Scholium*. A separate “System of the World” offers a more synthetic exposition. Cajori’s extensive appendix supplies historical and explanatory notes throughout.Cotes’s preface to the second edition champions Newton’s experimental philosophy against scholastic “occult qualities” and Cartesian vortices. He argues from terrestrial gravitation and pendulum experiments to mutual attraction, then by Keplerian area and period–distance laws to centripetal forces inversely as the square of distance, unifying moon, planets, and comets under a single gravitational principle. The prefaces chronicle Newton’s method (analysis from phenomena; synthesis to prediction), Halley’s role in pressing publication, and later refinements to lunar theory, precession, comet orbits, and fluid resistance. Altogether, the volume frames the *Principia* as both a mathematical edifice and a philosophical watershed: geometry and experiment joined to reveal a world governed not by speculative mechanisms but by demonstrable universal laws.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1934.

The main part of the third volume of Dr Whiteside's annotated and critical edition of all the known mathematical papers of Isaac Newton reproduces, from the original autograph, Newton's elaborate tract on infinite series and fluxions (the so-called Methodus Fluxionum), including a formerly unpublished appendix on geometrical fluxions. Ancillary documents include, in Part 1, papers on the integration of algebraic functions and, in Part 2, short texts dealing with geometry and simple harmonic motion in a cycloidal arc. Part 3 reproduces, from both manuscript versions of Newton's Lectiones Opticae and from his Waste Book, mathematical excerpts from his researches into light and the theory of lenses at this period. An appendix summarizes mathematical highlights in his contemporary correspondence.

This volume reproduces the texts of a number of important, yet relatively minor papers, many written during a period of Newton's life (1677-84) which has been regarded as mathematically barren except for his Lucasian lectures on algebra (which appear in Volume V). Part 1 concerns itself with his growing mastery of interpolation by finite differences, culminating in his rule for divided differences. Part 2 deals with his contemporary advances in the pure and analytical geometry of curves. Part 3 contains the extant text of two intended treatises on fluxions and infinite series: the Geometria Curvilinea (c. 1680), and his Matheseos Universalis Specimina (1684). A general introduction summarizes the sparse details of Newton's personal life during the period, one - from 1677 onwards - of almost total isolation from his contemporaries. A concluding appendix surveys highlights in his mathematical correspondence during 1674-6 with Collins, Dary, John Smith and above all Leibniz.

The fifth volume of this definitive edition centres around Newton's Lucasian lectures on algebra, purportedly delivered during 1673-83, and subsequently prepared for publication under the title Arithmetica Universalis many years later. Dr Whiteside first reproduces the text of the lectures deposited by Newton in the Cambridge University Library about 1684. In these much reworked, not quite finished, professional lectiones, Newton builds upon his earlier studies of the fundamentals of algebra and its application to the theory and construction of equations, developing new techniques for the factorizing of algebraic quantities and the delimitation of bounds to the number and location of roots, with a wealth of worked arithmetical, geometrical, mechanical and astronomical problems. An historical introduction traces what is known of the background to the parent manuscript and assesses the subsequent impact of the edition prepared by Whiston about 1705 and the revised version published by Newton himself in 1722. A number of minor worksheets, preliminary drafts and later augmentations buttress this primary text, throwing light upon its development and the essential untrustworthiness of its imposed marginal chronology.

This volume reproduces mathematically significant extracts from the extant manuscript record of Newton's researches during 1684-5 into the dynamical motion of bodies under the deviating action of a central force, and his subsequent struggles thereby to explain the observed motions of solar comets and of the moon. The short tract De motu Corporum, which Newton initially composed on this topic in the early autumn of 1684, was primarily built around his earlier proof that in the absence of external perturbation a planetary eclipse may be traversed under an inverse-square force pull to its solar focus, but also discussed the simplest case of resisted ballistic motion. In epilogue, excerpts from his abandoned grand scheme for revising the Principia in the early 1690s detail Newton's planned refinements to his printed exposition of central force, both simplifying and extending it, introducing therein a novel general fluxional measure of such force - but failing adequately to apply it to the primary case of conic motion.

Newton's mathematical researches during the last five years of his stay in Cambridge before leaving in April 1696 to take up his duties at the Mint in London have three main centres of interest: methods of fluxions and series, classical pure geometry, and Cartesian analytical geometry. Part 1 reproduces Newton's advances at this time in further extending the techniques of his combined calculus of fluxions and fluent, and of expansion into infinite series. Part 2 gives publication of Newton's lengthy excursions in the early 1690s into the modes of geometrical analysis used by the 'ancient' geometers, based - by way of Commandino's Latin translation - on the account of this little understood field of the Greek 'topos analuomenos' which was given by Pappus in the prolegomenon to the seventh book of his Mathematical Collection. Part 3 gives prominence to the final text of the Enumeratio Linearum Tertii Ordinis which Newton put together in June 1695.

When Newton left Cambridge in April 1696 to take up, at the age of 53, a new career at the London Mint, he did not entirely 'leave off Mathematicks' as he so often publicly declared. This last volume of his mathematical papers presents the extant record of the investigations which for one reason and another he pursued during the last quarter of his life. In January 1697 Newton was tempted to respond to two challenges issued by Johann Bernoulli to the international community of mathematicians, one the celebrated problem of identifying the brachistochrone; both he resolved within the space of an evening, producing an elegant construction of the cycloid which he identified to be the curve of fall in least time. In the autumn of 1703, the appearance of work on 'inverse fluxions' by George Cheyne similarly provoked him to prepare his own ten-year-old treatise De Quadratura Curvarum for publication, and more importantly to write a long introduction to it where he set down what became his best-known statement of the nature and purpose of his fluxional calculus.

The bringing together, in an annotated and critical edition, of all the known mathematical papers of Isaac Newton marks a step forward in the publication of the works of this great natural philosopher. In all, there are eight volumes in this present edition. Translations of papers in Latin face the original text and notes are printed on the page-openings to which they refer, so far as possible. Each volume contains a short index of names only and an analytical table of contents; a comprehensive index to the complete work is included in Volume VIII. Volume I covers three exceptionally productive years: Newton's final year as an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, and the two following years, part of which were spent at his home in Lincolnshire on account of the closure of the university during an outbreak of bubonic plague.

The second volume of Dr Whiteside's annotated edition of all the known mathematical papers of Isaac Newton covers the period 1667-70. It is divided into three parts: Part 1 contains the first drafts of an attempted classification of cubics, together with more general studies on the properties of higher algebraic curves and researches into the 'organic' construction of curves. Part 2 comprises papers on miscellaneous researches in calculus, including the important De Analysi which introduced Newton to John Collins and others outside Cambridge; Newton's original text is here accompanied by Leibniz's excerpts and review, and by Newton's counter review. Part 3 contains Mercator's Latin translation of Kinckhuysen's introduction to algebra, with Newton's corrections and 'observations' upon it, and an account of researches into algebraic equations and their geometrical construction.

This fourth volume covers the period which was probably the most varied of Newton's whole career. The Principia had already established Newton as the world's foremost mathematician and natural philosopher. In spite of the abstruse nature of the mathematical treatment adopted in its pages, the first edition was rapidly exhausted and, within a very few years, Newton was being urged to consider the preparation of the second edition. This was to contain, inter alia, his further researches upon the motion of the Moon, the solar system, and the behaviour of the comets. Not until 1694, however, did his thoughts upon this project assume definite shape. To carry out his plan, he had need of the most accurate observations available, and for these he turned to the Observatory at Greenwich, where John Flamsteed had been installed as King's Astronomer. So came about that close association between the two men which was to last for many years, though not without frequent interruptions.

This fifth volume presents the surviving correspondence from the period of almost four years which is, from a bibliographical point of view, the most important time in Newton's life: with Roger Cotes, Newton revised his Philosophise Naturalis Principia Mathematics and saw it through the press. Considered as a single group of letters, the Newton-Cotes correspondence is the largest and most important section of Newton's scientific correspondence that we have. Nowhere else can one witness Newton in a detailed debate about scientific argument and scientific conclusions - a debate from which he did not always emerge victorious. Nowhere else does Newton write in detail about the text of the Principia. And all scholars agree that this text which was hammered out between Cotes and Newton was the most important of all versions, printed and unprinted; this was (to all intents and purposes) the Principia of subsequent history.

As Newton had by now entered his eighth decade, it can be no surprise that the correspondence in this sixth volume shows a marked decline in his activity and intellectual vigour. While the number of extant letters written by him on other that Mint business is relatively small, the majority of them are devoted to his controversy with Leibniz - Newton's dominant interest during this period. The correspondence of Newton shades gradually into the correspondence of the Newtonians. Thus notably Keill, De Moivre, Chamberlayne, Brook Taylor, the Abbe Conti and Des Maizeaux interested themselves in the calculus dispute, all of them (except the first) having frequent opportunities for personal conversation with Newton.

In this seventh and final volume the letters are divided into two quite distinct groups. The first group begins with the remaining letters of the main chronological sequence written during the closing years of Newton's life, and then proceeds to those few letters to which there is no assignable date with any certainty. The second group of letters, placed in Appendix I, contains corrections and additions to the letters printed in the earlier volumes of the Correspondence. A genealogical table is added to Appendix II to help the reader through the intricacies of Newton's family tree. Even after the creative power of his genius had deserted him, Newton retained to the very end of his long life the characteristic clarity of his thought. Few of Newton's letters in this volume may justly be described as scientific. The relative inactivity of the Mint meant that, although he apparently delegated few of his responsibilities to others, Newton's concerns there were no onerous. Thus it is not surprising that in the last nine years of his life (the period covered in this volume), and particularly from 1725 onwards, there was a decrease in Newton's output of letters; but those which he did write remain as lucid as ever.

This second volume contains the first exchange of letters between Newton and Leibniz, which took place through the intermediacy of Oldenburg, as well as the beginning of Newton's correspondence of Flamsteed, which resulted from their common interest in the comet of 1680. Of prime interest is the correspondence with Halley, whose compelling zeal and energy played such a part in persuading Newton to write the Principia. This great work was published about midsummer 1687. As early as New Year 1684/5 it was known in some quarters that Newton was busying himself with applying his laws of motion to problems of celestial mechanics, for at that time Flamsteed wrote (Letter 275): 'if you will give me leave to guesse at your designe I beleive you are endeavoring to define ye curve yt ye comet in ye aether from your Theory of motion'.

First published in 1962, this volume collects together some of Newton's most important scientific papers. Chosen primarily to illustrate Newton's ideas on the nature of matter, the papers afford valuable insights into Newton's development as a scientist and his ideas of the world that science explores. The six sections are entitled: Mathematics, Mechanics, Theory of Matter, Manuscripts related to the Principia, Education and Notes. Each section has a critical introduction to set the manuscripts in perspective and to discuss their implications. English translations of the Latin documents are given.

Newton's Opticks is the most influential optical and experimental work of the eighteenth century. This final volume of The Optical Papers of Isaac Newton contains manuscripts that document the evolution of the Opticks through its three principal published editions. It shows how Newton constructed the book that for over a century was the leading treatise on optics, a fecund source of natural philosophical speculations, and which is now considered a classic of science. The volume opens with the manuscript of the first edition (1704) and the first draft of the Opticks in Latin, which he soon abandoned for English. This is followed by the manuscripts of the queries that Newton added to the Latin translation in 1706 and the second English edition in 1717. Other, shorter manuscripts are included, as are copious notes and commentary, making this a valuable resource for historians and philosophers of science, and historians of philosophy.

This third volume covers the period from December 1688 to August 1694. In January 1688/9 Newton was elected one of the representatives of the University of Cambridge in the Convention Parliament, and much of his time was taken up in dealing with his new responsibilities, as may be gathered from his correspondence with Covel, Vice-Chancellor of the University. The letters in question, which were printed in collected form in 1848, provide a picture of the unsettled period which followed the flight of King James II to the court of Louis XIV, and the landing of William, Prince of Orange, on English soil on 5 November 1688. In 1689 there was a possibility of Newton being appointed to the Provostship of King's College, Cambridge, but the only reference in the Correspondence is to be found in Letter 377.

This first volume is particularly rich in matters of concern to the historian of science. It shows the young Newton in the plenitude of his powers; he himself wrote of the period at Woolsthorpe, which ended before any surviving letters of real consequence were written, 'for in those days I was in the prime of my age for invention, and minded Mathematics and Philosophy more than at any time since'. The main scientific topics with which these letters deal are the reflecting telescope; the early mathematical work; and the fundamental work on the decomposition of white light by the prism.