Newton's Principia PublishedIn 1687, the Principia, by Isaac Newton, was published. It was titled (in Latin): Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Translated into English, the title is The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, familiarly known as simply the Principia. The original was written in Latin, because it was the universal language of scholars in many countries countries. In this monumental work, Newton gave an insightful mathematical analysis of the relationships between force, motion and time, as in acceleration and inertial motion. He also outlined the motion of the heavenly bodies. This book was the original publication to the world of his now famously-known three Laws of Motion, and the Law of Universal Gravitation. His treatment of the subject is still reflected in basic physics textbooks.« |