Newton’s Work and the Breakthrough (Based on the youtube link)
Newton owned more than 30 bibles
where he connected religion to astronomy, and he re-dated ancient history
drawing up elaborate charts and chronologies that show symbolizations dated
back to 1980BC. Newton coned the bible
for keys to the future, of when the end will come (when Christ will return),
and he predicted it would be the year 2060.
Edmond Halley is what triggered a question about planetary orbits, which
changed science forever. Through years,
scientists discovered that planets move around the sun in slightly elongated
elliptical orbits, but they could not prove why that is the case. Halley and other scientists had begun to
suspect that some kind of force is what caused the planets to be attracted to
the sun, however the force grew weaker with distance. This mathematical relation was formulated as
the inverse square law. The inverse
square law states that if the planet is twice as far form the sun, the
gravitational attraction it feels is 4x weaker, however no one was able to
prove that this was the cause for the elliptical orbits. Several months later, Newton sent Halley
proof stating that a planet obeying the inverse square law of gravity must
travel in an elliptical orbit, and he used calculus to arrive to this
conclusion, but Newton wanted more than mathematical proof so he did not
publish it just yet. So he worked on a
further explanation for 18 months. He
finally submitted a 500-page book of his masterpiece named Naturais Principia
Mathematica. Newton believed that the
same laws that governed motion on earth is also applicable in the heavens, so
he wrote a book called the Axioms (Laws of Motion), which included his three
laws of motion. His first law states
that an object in motion would remain in motion forever unless acted on upon an
external force. His second law of motion
states that an object rate of acceleration is proportional to the force exerted
on it, and lastly his third law of motion states that for every action there is
an equal and opposite reaction. To show
how gravity works on earth and the skies, Newton developed a thought
experiment.
 |
| This diagram illustrates Newton's breakthrough in Astronomy |
Newton’s breakthrough was to see that
the moon’s orbit around the earth and the same law of gravity governed the
cannonball’s motion on earth.
Cannonballs falling from the earth and the moon falling on the earth
follow the same law of physics, which is gravity. If gravity governed motion on the earth and
it’s moon, why not be the same motion for Jupiter and it’s moons, and the
entire solar system for that matter of fact.
Newton finally proclaimed that this invisible force operates all around
the universe, which is called the universal law of gravitation.
References used for Newton:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n3RWAIlzAI
https://pegsandtails.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/enoch_seeman__sir_isaac_newton_01a.jpg
Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
Hook specialized his work in various fields such as
astronomy, chemistry, biology, and geology to even architecture. He is popularly known for inventing the
universal joint, iris diaphragm along with an early prototype of the respirator
which invented an anchor escapement and the balance spring (which made more
accurate clocks possible). He also
worked out the correct theory of combustion by devising an equation describing
the elasticity that is still currently used today as the “Hooke’s Law”. He assisted Robert Boyle in conducting the
study in the physics of gases. He was
referred to as the “virtuos” since he was able to contribute findings of the
importance regarding various fields in science as a whole. He was also the one who discovered the term “plant
cells”, along with examining fossils with a microscope.
References used for Hooke:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/hooke.html
Edmond Halley
Halley is a well-known astronomer
and mathematician who was the first individual to calculate the orbit of a
comet (which was then later named after him).
Halley was determined to compile an accurate catalog of the southern
stars in the Southern Hemisphere. After
a long struggle, he had finally recorded the celestial longitudes and latitudes
of 341 stars along with observing a transit of Mercury across the Sun’s disk,
alongside making numerous mendulum observations as well in January 1678. Halley was the first to publish a star
catalog in which contained telescopic determination of locations within the
Southern stars, whch was a huge milestone in identifying himself as a solid
astronomer. He was elected as a fellow
of the Royal Society in 1678, and was granted the M.A degree by the University
of Oxford.
References used for Halley:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/252812/Edmond-Halley
http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/astrology/images/edmond_halley_1687.jpg
Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren was a well known
astronomer and architecture. He first
started off with a passion for mathematics and astronomy and became a professor
of Astronomy at Gresham College in London.
He was one of the first members to make the well-proclaimed Royal
Society for astronomers. After
significant amount of years in scientific research, he became Savilian
Professor of Astronomy at Oxford in 1661.
Physics and mathematics is the foundation of determining his passion for
architecture. He is arguably the best-known
architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral along with other prominent London churches.
References used for Halley:
http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/christopher-wren-architect-and-astronomer
http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/54446aa7c07a80762d0004ac_spotlight-sir-christopher-wren_via_history_of_surgery.jpg
Newton vs. Leibniz: The Calculus Controversy
Both Newton and Leibniz were
recognized figures in the contribution to the work of calculus. However there is a controversy on the debate
of who really does get the true recognition for calculus. Newton was
the author of Principia (1687) as well as a host of equally esteemed published
works, however he went much further in exploring the applications of calculus compared
to Leibniz. It is important to note that
Leibniz and Newton both had very different views of calculus. Newton’s theory was
based on limits and concrete reality, while Leibniz’s theory focused more on
the infinite and the abstract. Leibniz has
published the first account of differential calculus in 1684 and then published
the explanation of integral calculus in 1686 (Boyer, 1968), but Newton did not
officially publish his findings until 1687.
However, there is evidence in which shows that Newton discovered his
theories of fluxional calculus in 1665 and 1666, along with the fact that Newton
was also the first to establish the general method called the "theory of
fluxions". He was the first to
state the fundamental theorem of calculus, along with being the first to
explore applications of both integration and differentiation in a single work (Struik,
1948).
Therefore,
it is clearly notable that Newton deserves the recognition and the title of the
discovery of calculus.
References used for
Newton/Leibniz:
http://www.angelfire.com/md/byme/mathsample.html
http://tikalon.com/blog/2012/Leibniz_Newton.jpg
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