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.
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
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 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1729) Newton's Principles of Natural Philosophy, Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1968
Ball, Rouse. “Sir Isaac Newton.” A Short Account of the History of Mathematics. 4th ed. Print.
This paper will focus on Voltaire’s stances on vital issues, their weight versus the ideas and practices against which they are reactions, and their influence on both 18th century Europe and the modern West.
...one’s experiment. Even so, Newton grasped what many could not in his time, making him a great thinker and a revolutionary in the field of science.
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.
...e began by mastering mathematics. He developed calculus in order for him to find the rate of change of objects. He learned about light and colors, which lead to his invention of the refracting telescope. He was the man that finally built a model of astronomy and physics and in doing so, brought together the work of Kepler and Galileo and of course his own findings on gravity (Margaret, 90). Newton was the first scientist ever to be honored with a knighthood for his work (Christianson, 138). Newton saw far, farther than anyone else at this time. He changed the world, and opened people's eyes.
...just as Kepler had sought to make sense of Brahe's vast amount of data, Newton sought to make sense of all the recently discovered science. While Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and others had achieved a piece of the puzzle, they had done more to destroy the old "universal" theory of Aristotle than arrive at a new one. It was Isaac Newton who finally published in his Principia the "Universal Gravitation Theory" and other laws of motion which explained the motion of every item and object in the universe, from Kepler's elliptical orbits to Galileo's metal balls. By combining the observation and theories from those before him, he was able to use the scientific method to mathematically derive this "synthesis", which led some to call him the "Supreme genius of the scientific revolution.
Sir Isaac Newton, (1642-1727), mathematician and physicist, was one of the greatest scientific minds of all time. Sir Isaac Newton was born at on January 4th (December 25th old calendar) at Woolsthorpe, a farmstead, in Lincolnshire. Woolsthorpe is the place where he worked on his theory of light and optics. This is also believed to be the site where Newton observed an apple fall from a tree, inspiring him to make his law of universal gravitation. He entered Cambridge University in 1661; he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1667, and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669. He remained at the university, lecturing in most years, until 1696. Of these Cambridge years, he was at the height of his creative power, he singled out 1665-1666 as "the prime of my age for invention". During two to three years of intense mental effort, he prepared Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica commonly known as the Principia, although this was not published until 1687. As an opponent of the attempt by King James II to make the universities into Catholic institutions, Newton was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge to the Convention Parliament of 1689, and sat again in 1701-1702. Meanwhile, in 1696 he moved to London as Warden of the Royal Mint. He became Master of the Mint in 1699, an office he retained to his death. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1671, and in 1703 he became President, being annually re-elected for the rest of his life. His major work, Opticks, appeared the next year; he was knighted in Cambridge in 1705. As Newtonian science became increasingly accepted on the Continent, and especially after a general peace was restored in 171...
Descartes and Newton differ in their conception of theology and cosmology. Newton’s world is ruled by mechanics and Descartes’ is based on cartesian mechanics. For Newton, nature is a machine that works together in a larger scheme. Newton’s natural philosophy begins with his study of phenomena, followed by the study of motion then moves into the forces of nature. His philosophy rests on simple, general rules. He then applies those rules back to motion and nature to further analyze his studies. His method aims to understand how forces and motion work with one another. Descartes notion of theology begins with radical doubt, a belief that God would not deceive him and finally, that the entire cosmos is a plan created by God, himself. In this essay I will compare Newton’s notion of theology to
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.
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 ...
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.
The mechanical philosophy of the Scientific Revolution was a contrasting philosophy of nature to Aristotelianism. This is due to the fact that mechanical philosophies held that nature acts like a machine rather than, as Aristotle believed, a living organism. However, mechanical philosophy did not wholly reject the ancient beliefs, due to the fact that seventeenth century philosophies were based off of an ancient mechanism. Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and Margaret C. Jacob, Newton and the Culture of Newtonianism (Amherst, N. Y.: Humanity Books), 6.