{"title":"How a falling apple could have helped Newton discover universal gravity","authors":"Gennady Gorelik","doi":"10.1140/epjh/s13129-023-00065-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The article delves into the intriguing disagreement among historians of science regarding the origin of the idea of universal gravity. Prominent researchers of the genesis of Newton's Principia did not believe that he could have come up with this idea in 1666, after observing a falling apple, as he claimed. On the other hand, prominent biographers of Newton did believe. The proposed key to solving this paradox is a thought experiment described in Newton's manuscript, ‘The System of the World,’ which preceded the creation of his ‘Principia.’ According to the proposed ‘subjunctive’ scenario, it was possible to come from the motion of a projectile to the concept of universal gravity, relying only on the knowledge and skills of Galileo in 1611.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":791,"journal":{"name":"The European Physical Journal H","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"The European Physical Journal H","FirstCategoryId":"4","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjh/s13129-023-00065-0","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract
The article delves into the intriguing disagreement among historians of science regarding the origin of the idea of universal gravity. Prominent researchers of the genesis of Newton's Principia did not believe that he could have come up with this idea in 1666, after observing a falling apple, as he claimed. On the other hand, prominent biographers of Newton did believe. The proposed key to solving this paradox is a thought experiment described in Newton's manuscript, ‘The System of the World,’ which preceded the creation of his ‘Principia.’ According to the proposed ‘subjunctive’ scenario, it was possible to come from the motion of a projectile to the concept of universal gravity, relying only on the knowledge and skills of Galileo in 1611.
期刊介绍：
The purpose of this journal is to catalyse, foster, and disseminate an awareness and understanding of the historical development of ideas in contemporary physics, and more generally, ideas about how Nature works.
The scope explicitly includes:
- Contributions addressing the history of physics and of physical ideas and concepts, the interplay of physics and mathematics as well as the natural sciences, and the history and philosophy of sciences, together with discussions of experimental ideas and designs - inasmuch as they clearly relate, and preferably add, to the understanding of modern physics.
- Annotated and/or contextual translations of relevant foreign-language texts.
- Careful characterisations of old and/or abandoned ideas including past mistakes and false leads, thereby helping working physicists to assess how compelling contemporary ideas may turn out to be in future, i.e. with hindsight.
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