Abstract
Much attention has been given to Newton’s argument for Universal Gravitation in Book III of the Principia. Newton brings an impressive array of phenomena, along with the three laws of motion, and his rules for reasoning to deduce Universal Gravitation. At the centre of this argument is the famous ‘moon test’. Here it is the empirical evidence supplied by the pendulum and Huygens’ results which drive Newton’s argument. This paper explores Newton’s argument while paying close attention to the role the pendulum plays in the argument.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aiton, E.J.: 1972, The Vortex Theory of Planetary Motions, American Elsevier, New York.
Aiton, E.J.: 1989, ‘The Cartesian Vortex Theory’, in Taton, R. & Wilson, C. (eds.), The General History of Astronomy, Vol. 2, Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the Rise of Astrophysics, Part A, Tycho Brahe to Newton, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 207–221.
Boulos, P.: 1999, From Natural Philosophy to Natural Science, The Entrenchment of Newton’s Ideal of Empirical Success. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Western Ontario.
Cohen, I.B. & Whittman, A.T.: 1999 Isaac Newton. The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Preceded by a “Guide to Newton’s Principia”, The University of California Press, Berkeley.
Cohen, I.B. & Schofield, R.E. (eds): 1958, Isaac Newton’s Papers and Letters on Natural Philosophy and Related Documents, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, London.
Cohen, I.B. & Westfall, R.S. (eds): 1995, Newton, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
Densmore, D.: 1995, Newton’s Principia: The Central Argument, Translations and illustrations by William H. Donahue, Green Lion Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Harper, W.L.: 1989, ‘Consilience and Natural Kind Reasoning in Newton’s Argument for Universal Gravitation’, in Brown (1989).
Harper, W. L.: 1991, ‘Newton’s Classic Deductions from the Phenomena’. In PSA 1990 2, 183–196.
Harper, W.L.: 1993, ‘Reasoning from the Phenomena: Newton’s Argument for Universal Gravitation and the Practice of Science’, in Theerman, P.& sheff (eds.), Action and Reaction (Proceedings of a Symposium to Commemorate the Tercentenary of Newton’s Principia), University of Deleware Press, New York, pp. 144–182
Harper, W.L.: 1995, ‘Isaac Newton on Empirical Success and Scientific Method’, in Earman, J. & Norton, J. (eds.), Serious Philosophy and History of Science, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh.
Harper, W.L.: 1999, ‘Isaac Newton on Empirical Success and Scientific Method’, in Earman J. & Norton, J. (eds.), The Cosmos of Science, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh.
Harper, W.L. & Smith, G.: 1995, ‘Newton’s New Way of Inquiry’, in Leplin, (ed.), Scientific Creativity: The Construction of Ideas in Science, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Huygens, C.: 1986, The Pendulum Clock, Trans R.J. Blackwell, The Iowa State University Press, Ames.
Newton, I.: 1934, Principia, 2 vol Trans, A. Motte and F. Cajori, The University of California Press, Berkeley.
Newton, I.: 1958, Papers And Letters On Natural Philosophy And Related Documents, in Cohen I.B., & Schofield, R.E. (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Newton, I.: 1959–1977, The Correspondence of Isaac Newton, 7 vols, in Turnbull, H.W., Scott, J.F., Rupert Hall, A. & Laura Tilling (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Newton, I.: 1962, Unpublished Scientific Papers, in Hall, A.R. & Hall, M.B. (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Newton, L.: 1967–1981, The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton, 8 vols in Whiteside, D.T. (ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Newton, I.: 1972, Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, The Third Edition (1726) with variant readings, assembled by A. Koyré, I. B. Cohen, and A. Whitman 2 vols Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Newton, I.: 1983, Certain Philosophical Questions: Newton’s Trinity Notebook, in McGuire, J.E. & Tamny, M. (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Newton, I.: 1999, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Trans, I.B. Cohen & A. Whitman The University of California Press, Berkeley.
Stein, H.: 1967, ‘Newtonian Space-Time’, The Texas Quarterly 10(3), 174–200.
Stein, H.: 1970, ‘Newtonian Space-Time’, in Palter, R. (ed.), The Annus Mirabilis of Sir Isaac Newton.: 1666–1966, The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, pp. 258–284.
Stein, H.: 1970a, ‘On the Notion of Field in Newton, Maxwell, and Beyond’, in Stewer, R. (ed.), Historical and Philosophical Perspectives of Science, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. V. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 264–287. (followed by criticisms by G. Buchdahl and M. Hesse with replies).
Stein, H.: 1989, ‘On Metaphysics and Method in Newton’, Manuscript.
Stein, H.: 1990, ‘Further Considerations on Newton’s Methods’, Manuscript.
Stein, H.: 1990a, ‘On Locke, ‘the Great Huygenius, and the incomparable Mr. Newton”, in P. Bricker & Hughes, R.I.G. (eds.), Philosophical Perspectives on Newtonian. Science, pp. 17–47.
Stein, H.: 1991, ‘From the Phenomena of Motions to the Forces of Nature: Hypothesis or Deduction?’ PSA 1990, 2, 209–222.
Westfall, R.S.: 1971, The Construction of Modern Science: Mechanism and Mechanics, Wiley, New York.
Westfall, R.S.: 1971a, Force in Newton’s Physics: The Science of Dynamics in the Seventeenth Century, Macdonald, London.
Westfall, R.S.: 1973, ‘Newton and the Fudge Factor’, Science CLXXIX, (23 February, 1973), 751–758.
Wilson, C.A.: 1970, ‘From Kepler’s Laws, So-called, To Universal Gravitation: Empirical Factors’, Archive for the History of Exact Sciences 6, 89–170.
Wilson, C.A.: 1985, ‘The Great Inequality of Jupiter and Saturn: from Kepler to Laplace’, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 33, 15–290.
Wilson, C.A.: 1987, ‘D’Alembert versus Euler on the Recession of the Equinoxes and the Mechanics of Rigid Bodies’, Archive for the History of Exact Sciences 37, 233–273.
Wilson, C.A.: 1988, ‘Newton’s Path to the Principia’, in The Great Ideas Today, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 178–229.
Wilson, C.A.: 1989, ‘The Newtonian Achievement In Astronomy’, in Taton, R. & Wilson, C. (eds.), The General History of Astronomy, Vol 2, Planetary Astronomy, from the Renaissance to the Rise of Astrophysics, Part A, Tycho Brahe to Newton Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 234–274.
Wilson, C.A.: 1995, ‘Newton on the Moon’s Variation and Apsidal Motion: The Need for a Newer ‘New Analysis’, Manuscript.
Wilson, C.A.: 1999, ‘Redoing Newton’s Experiment for Establishing The Proportionality of Mass and Weight’, The St. John’s Review XLV(2), 64–73.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Boulos, P.J. (2005). Newton’s Path to Universal Gravitation: The Role of the Pendulum. In: Matthews, M.R., Gauld, C.F., Stinner, A. (eds) The Pendulum. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3526-8_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3526-8_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3525-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3526-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)