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Index
13. Free Fall 14. Vectors 15. Energy 15a. Atmospheric Energy and Climate 16. Newton's Laws 17. Mass 17a. Measuring Mass in Orbit 17b. Inertial balance 18. Newton's 2nd Law 18a. The Third Law |
Isaac Newton was born in 1642, the year Galileo died. Almost all his creative years were spent at the University of Cambridge, England, first as a student, later as a greatly honored professor. He never married, and his personality continues to intrigue scholars to this day: secretive, at times cryptic, embroiled in personal quarrels with some scholars yet generous to others, bestowing his attention not just on physics and mathematics, but also on religion and alchemy. The one thing about which everyone agrees is his brilliant talent. Three problems intrigued scientists in Newton's time: the laws of motion, the laws of planetary orbits, and the mathematics of continuously varying quantities--a field nowadays known as [differential and integral] calculus. It may be fairly stated that Newton was the first to solve all three. No wonder that the poet Alexander Pope, who lived in Newton's time, wrote:
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This section discusses two concepts on which they are based: |
Next Stop: #17 Mass
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Author and Curator: Dr. David P. Stern
Mail to Dr.Stern: stargaze("at" symbol)phy6.org .
Last updated: 10-9-2004
Reformatted 24 March 2006