Mechanics Essay
Marcela Richardson
Michael Polanyi College
Mechanics Essay
December 12, 2013
Sir Isaac Newton
It is truly an honor for me to have had the opportunity to study Newton directly from his thoughts, especially because I asked myself, while trying to understand him, the same questions he once asked in order to arrive up to the establishment of the Law of Universal Gravitation. It is also a privilege for the fact that he influenced the modern mind in revolutionizing the political economical theory, religion, and the exploration to self-knowledge by establishing the foundations of science and mathematics in order for the common man to understand the know-how of the phenomena happening in the universe. In the small picture, he even revolutionized the way I now learn, because even though coping with Newton was a though ride for me, his process of deduction thought me a lot of how to become an authentic learner, by asking honest questions and understanding an argument followed by previous proofs.
What Newton is most attributed with is the Law of Universal Gravitation, and this states that all particles with a mass gravitate towards each other, proportional to the mass of each body and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two bodies. As Newton states this he has in mind the elliptical orbits of the planets. He has arrived up to this statement by using experimental observations discussed in “Phenomena”, Book 3, which also included the theories generally accepted by society as well as his mathematical demonstrations. In order to understand the relationship he makes between different planets in his propositions he uses ratios and proportions to prove them. By this he means that ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind, and a proportion is two ratios that are the same. In the Preface of the reader, Newton says, “And on that account we present these (writings) of ours as the mathematical principles of philosophy. For the whole difficulty of philosophy appears to turn upon this: that from the phenomena of motion we investigate the forces of nature, and then from these forces we demonstrate the rest of the phenomena.” We can conclude from this that he will be demonstrating his propositions by using observation and deducing by mathematical demonstrations.
Newton takes us throughout his process of thought from the basic understanding up to the point of demonstrating such thing as the Gravitational Law. He does this by explaining in the first two books the method he will be using, and sets clear some definitions such as: quantity of matter, quantity of motion, impressed force, inherent force, centripetal force, accelerative force, absolute force etc., being key elements in order to understand the claim he will later state. Also, Newton declared the three laws of motion, the first is: things will remain in their state of rest or movement in a straight line if there’s no impressed force on them. The second law of motion is: Force and acceleration are directly proportional, while mass and acceleration are inversely proportional. And the third law of motion states: Every action has an equal or opposite reaction. Afterwards in the introduction to the third book he declares four rules to philosophize, which is a set of principles that would lead us to a general application of our knowledge in any other branch of philosophical thinking. The first rule of philosophizing declares that there ought not to be admitted any more causes of natural things than those which are both true and sufficient to explain their phenomena. Second, accordingly, to natural effects of the same kind the same causes should be assigned, as far as possible. And it is in this book were Newton uses his observations and mathematical demonstrations to answer questions of the real world, of actual phenomena, being the way to discovering the Universal Law of Gravity.
Newton finishes his master piece by writing a General Scholium, which in my opinion it has been one of the most beautiful pieces of texts I’ve read. He talks about the magnificence of God, as the intellect behind our existence. Some questions that left unanswered being one of them the intervention of God in our world, when he writes “In him all things are contained and moved, but without mutual effects. God is not affected by the motions of bodies, and these do not experience any resistance from God’s omnipresence”. It seems like in here Newton is describing the free will of human beings, were we are not bounded by God’s intervention. It is impossible to reach the knowledge of how God perceives and understands everything. Also Newton describes with a mathematical description the development of the law of gravity, but he is unaware as to the why of the cause of such phenomena. What Newton did in his lifetime, is something to be admired because he have taken the time and seriousness to pursue this field until he was satisfied with answers that were logic to him, he did even more than he could have thought, we can’t expect him answering God like questions as for the why of such phenomena’s, we must conform with what he has stated and try to keep asking questions which move mankind forward.
Michael Polanyi College
Mechanics Essay
December 12, 2013
Sir Isaac Newton
It is truly an honor for me to have had the opportunity to study Newton directly from his thoughts, especially because I asked myself, while trying to understand him, the same questions he once asked in order to arrive up to the establishment of the Law of Universal Gravitation. It is also a privilege for the fact that he influenced the modern mind in revolutionizing the political economical theory, religion, and the exploration to self-knowledge by establishing the foundations of science and mathematics in order for the common man to understand the know-how of the phenomena happening in the universe. In the small picture, he even revolutionized the way I now learn, because even though coping with Newton was a though ride for me, his process of deduction thought me a lot of how to become an authentic learner, by asking honest questions and understanding an argument followed by previous proofs.
What Newton is most attributed with is the Law of Universal Gravitation, and this states that all particles with a mass gravitate towards each other, proportional to the mass of each body and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two bodies. As Newton states this he has in mind the elliptical orbits of the planets. He has arrived up to this statement by using experimental observations discussed in “Phenomena”, Book 3, which also included the theories generally accepted by society as well as his mathematical demonstrations. In order to understand the relationship he makes between different planets in his propositions he uses ratios and proportions to prove them. By this he means that ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind, and a proportion is two ratios that are the same. In the Preface of the reader, Newton says, “And on that account we present these (writings) of ours as the mathematical principles of philosophy. For the whole difficulty of philosophy appears to turn upon this: that from the phenomena of motion we investigate the forces of nature, and then from these forces we demonstrate the rest of the phenomena.” We can conclude from this that he will be demonstrating his propositions by using observation and deducing by mathematical demonstrations.
Newton takes us throughout his process of thought from the basic understanding up to the point of demonstrating such thing as the Gravitational Law. He does this by explaining in the first two books the method he will be using, and sets clear some definitions such as: quantity of matter, quantity of motion, impressed force, inherent force, centripetal force, accelerative force, absolute force etc., being key elements in order to understand the claim he will later state. Also, Newton declared the three laws of motion, the first is: things will remain in their state of rest or movement in a straight line if there’s no impressed force on them. The second law of motion is: Force and acceleration are directly proportional, while mass and acceleration are inversely proportional. And the third law of motion states: Every action has an equal or opposite reaction. Afterwards in the introduction to the third book he declares four rules to philosophize, which is a set of principles that would lead us to a general application of our knowledge in any other branch of philosophical thinking. The first rule of philosophizing declares that there ought not to be admitted any more causes of natural things than those which are both true and sufficient to explain their phenomena. Second, accordingly, to natural effects of the same kind the same causes should be assigned, as far as possible. And it is in this book were Newton uses his observations and mathematical demonstrations to answer questions of the real world, of actual phenomena, being the way to discovering the Universal Law of Gravity.
Newton finishes his master piece by writing a General Scholium, which in my opinion it has been one of the most beautiful pieces of texts I’ve read. He talks about the magnificence of God, as the intellect behind our existence. Some questions that left unanswered being one of them the intervention of God in our world, when he writes “In him all things are contained and moved, but without mutual effects. God is not affected by the motions of bodies, and these do not experience any resistance from God’s omnipresence”. It seems like in here Newton is describing the free will of human beings, were we are not bounded by God’s intervention. It is impossible to reach the knowledge of how God perceives and understands everything. Also Newton describes with a mathematical description the development of the law of gravity, but he is unaware as to the why of the cause of such phenomena. What Newton did in his lifetime, is something to be admired because he have taken the time and seriousness to pursue this field until he was satisfied with answers that were logic to him, he did even more than he could have thought, we can’t expect him answering God like questions as for the why of such phenomena’s, we must conform with what he has stated and try to keep asking questions which move mankind forward.