The Elements of Newton's Philosophy. By Voltaire. (Guildford and London: Billing and Sons Ltd., 1967. Pp xvi, 363.) In this essay, published in 1738, Voltaire explains the philosophies of not only Newton, but in a large part Descartes because of his contributions in the fields of geometry. In Voltaire's concise explanation of Newton's and other philosophers' paradigms related in the fields of astronomy and physics, he employs geometry through diagrams and pictures and proves his statements with calculus. Voltaire in fact mentions that this essay is for the people who have the desire to teach themselves, and makes the intent of the book as a textbook. In 25 chapters, and every bit of 357 pages, as well as six pages of definitions, Voltaire explains Newton's discoveries in the field of optics, the rainbow spectrum and colors, musical notes, the Laws of Attraction, disproving the philosophy of Descarte's cause of gravity and structure of light, and proving Newton's new paradigm, or Philosophy as Voltaire would have called it. Voltaire in a sense created the idea that Newton's principles were a new philosophy and acknowledged the possibility for errors. Through mathematical problems and solutions Voltaire shatters the paradigm of any faithful observer to Descartes philosophy and calls his way of thinking "Chaos" (Pp. 8). What amazed me was their ability to calculate things they were never able to do before, like the speed of light, proving it takes just eight minutes for a ray or rays of light from the Sun to reach Earth. Through Newton's achievements in calculus and his use of geometry Voltaire showed how we could estimate the distance between the Earth and the stars and planets. Voltaire precisely calculates how long it takes for the Sun to rotate as 25 and one-half days, which is an accepted answer today because of variance moving toward the poles. This book was at times difficult to grasp its principles when reading the calculus, but with its inclusion of geometry the material becomes accessible to most educated readers. Because it has the feel of a textbook for spreading the understanding of the new philosophy this book should be recommended to anyone studying the history of science, philosophy, or any of the various influential philosophers who contributed to understanding and truth through experimentation. One thing that amazed me were the similarities in English that was published in the late 1730's as today. The only real differences being some capitalization we don't follow, the use of an altered looking lower case f, which is pronounced with an s sound, and some European spelling.
Sir Isaac Newton made an enormous amount of contributions to the world of physics. He invented the reflecting telescope, proposed new theories of light and color, discovered calculus, developed the three laws of motion, and devised the law of universal gravitation. His greatest contribution to physics was the development of the three laws of motion. The first law was called the law of inertia; this law stated that, “Every object persists in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.” The second law is called the law of acceleration; this law stated that, “Force is equal to the chan...
The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1729) Newton's Principles of Natural Philosophy, Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1968
In 1687, Newton published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (also known as Principia). The Principia was the “climax of Newton's professional life” (“Sir Isaac Newton”, 370). This book contains not only information on gravity, but Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. The First Law states that an object in constant motion will remain in motion unless an outside force is applied. The Second Law states that an object accelerates when a force is applied to a mass and greater force is needed to accelerate an object with a larger mass. The Third Law states that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. These laws were fundamental in explaining the elliptical orbits of planets, moons, and comets. They were also used to calculate
John Cottingham, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Ball, Rouse. “Sir Isaac Newton.” A Short Account of the History of Mathematics. 4th ed. Print.
Voltaire was the French philosopher and one of the prominent Enlightenment thinkers. His intelligence, wit, and style in expressing the reality of his age through his writing made him one of the greatest writers on his age despite the controversies he attracted. He produced works in almost all the literary forms such as plays, novels, essays, and poetry. His school of thought greatly influenced British Empiricism and attacked the philosophers of Continental Rationalism. Voltaire’s prominent work Candide aimed at mocking Leibniz’s optimism. In addition, Voltaire attempted to refute Descartes’ metaphysics which is based on Locke’s Empiricism . On analyzing Voltaire’s Candide in detail, the readers can understand that he is undoubtedly an Enlightenment
When most people hear the name Isaac Newton, they think of various laws of physics and the story of the apple falling from the tree; in addition, some may even think of him as the inventor of calculus. However, there was much more to Newton’s life which was in part molded by the happenings around the world. The seventeenth century was a time of great upheaval and change around the world. The tumultuousness of this era was due mostly to political and religious unrest which in effect had a great impact on the mathematics and science discoveries from the time Newton was born in 1646 until the early 1700’s.
The development of this mathematical system would lay the foundations for Descartes other philosophical discoveries in which his most significant contributions to the modern world would be made. In the year 1619, Descartes left his mentor Beeckman and joined the Emperor for the Holy Roman Empire Ferdinand V. During his time in the army Descartes had three distinct dreams in which he believed gave him a path to follow later on in life. The basis of these dreams was truly the break between the classics th...
Sir Isaac Newton is the greatest pioneer of the Renaissance era for many reasons. One of these many reasons is his discovery of gravity and his Three Laws of Motion. Gravity is a universal force that attracts matter together. It is the reason why you were to fall if you jump from a building. No one understood this concept until Sir Isaac Newton came along in the mid 1600‘s. It is said he discovered this idea when he was hit in the head from an apple that fell from a tree. With this new idea, he tested and came up with the Three Laws of Motion. The laws are statements that explain Inertia, force and ...
In conclusion, from Letters on England and the Candidate, Voltaire showed his intelligence in explaining the thoughts of science and utilizing sarcasm to attack the current political and religious traditions in France. Also, from his work, he showed the life that he had experienced before, and the ideas that promoted The Enlightenment and the revolutions: the freedom of religion, scientific thoughts, skepticism and experiential philosophy.
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher connected with the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth and hundreds of years and is frequently referred to as both the Father of Philosophy and in addition the Father of Modern Mathematics. Descartes sought after various insightful diversions and delivered an expansive body of works in these ranges. The Discourse on the Method is a philosophical and personal treatise distributed by René Descartes in 1637. The Discourse on the Method is a standout amongst the most persuasive works ever, and imperative to the advancement of characteristic sciences.
Newton, Isaac. The Correspondence of Isaac Newton. Vol. 7, 1718-1727. Edited by A. Rupert Hall and Laura Tilling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press for the Royal Society, 1977.
Newton’s father who was a yeoman farmer died a few moths before Isaac was born. It was said that Isaac was to carry on the paternal farm when old enough. When Isaac was three his mother, Hannah Ayscough, married a clergyman from North Witham, the next village, and went to live with him leaving Isaac to live with his grandmother, Margery Ayscough. Treated like an orphan, Isaac did not have a very happy childhood. After eight years of marriage, his stepfather died and his mother came back with her three small children. Two years later Newton attended grammar school at Grantham. He lodged with the local apothecary where was fascinated with all the chemicals. His learning in school got the attention of many people. As a child, Isaac Newton had invented three things, which included a windmill that could grind wheat and corn, a water clock that was powered by water-drops, and a sundial, which can be seen today in the house in which he was born. At the age of fourteen he left school to help his mother take care of the farm but he was so busy reading, solving problems, making experiments, and devising mechanical models that his mother noticing this thought he need a more congenial job. His uncle who was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, recommended he should be sent there.
Calculus, the mathematical study of change, can be separated into two departments: differential calculus, and integral calculus. Both are concerned with infinite sequences and series to define a limit. In order to produce this study, inventors and innovators throughout history have been present and necessary. The ancient Greeks, Indians, and Enlightenment thinkers developed the basic elements of calculus by forming ideas and theories, but it was not until the late 17th century that the theories and concepts were being specified. Originally called infinitesimal calculus, meaning to create a solution for calculating objects smaller than any feasible measurement previously known through the use of symbolic manipulation of expressions. Generally accepted, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz were recognized as the two major inventors and innovators of calculus, but the controversy appeared when both wanted sole credit of the invention of calculus. This paper will display the typical reason of why Newton was the inventor of calculus and Leibniz was the innovator, while both contributed an immense amount of knowledge to the system.
The abstractions can be anything from strings of numbers to geometric figures to sets of equations. In deriving, for instance, an expression for the change in the surface area of any regular solid as its volume approaches zero, mathematicians have no interest in any correspondence between geometric solids and physical objects in the real world. A central line of investigation in theoretical mathematics is identifying in each field of study a small set of basic ideas and rules from which all other interesting ideas and rules in that field can be logically deduced. Mathematicians are particularly pleased when previously unrelated parts of mathematics are found to be derivable from one another, or from some more general theory. Part of the sense of beauty that many people have perceived in mathematics lies not in finding the greatest richness or complexity but on the contrary, in finding the greatest economy and simplicity of representation and proof.