Difference between revisions of "Isaac Newton"

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|Summary=Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was a natural philosopher who lived and worked in England in the 17th and 18th century. Newton’s most notable contributions were made to the fields of physics, mathematics, and scientific method, which were so groundbreaking that he is currently considered to be one of the most important physicists in modern Western history.[[CiteRef::Janiak (2016)]] Philosophers of science credit Newton’s revolutionary theory of gravity and his experimental approach to conducting natural philosophy as outlined in his major work, The Principia, (Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica) to be the foundation for the dominant Newtonian mosaic which influenced much of late 18th and 19th century science.1 Some consider The Principia to be the work that initially created physics as its own scientific field separate from the umbrella of metaphysics and philosophy.1 Newton is also known for his contributions to the fields of alchemy and theology[0.introduction]
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|Summary=Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was a natural philosopher who lived and worked in England in the 17th and 18th century. Newton’s most notable contributions were made to the fields of physics, mathematics, and scientific method, which were so groundbreaking that he is currently considered to be one of the most important physicists in modern Western history.[[CiteRef::Janiak (2016)]] Philosophers of science credit Newton’s revolutionary theory of gravity and his experimental approach to conducting natural philosophy as outlined in his major work, The Principia, (Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica) to be the foundation for the dominant Newtonian mosaic which influenced much of late 18th and 19th century science.[[CiteRef::Janiak (2016)]] Some consider The Principia to be the work that initially created physics as its own scientific field separate from the umbrella of metaphysics and philosophy.[[CiteRef::Janiak (2016)]]
|Historical Context=Although Newton’s curriculum at the University of Cambridge in the 1660’s would have consisted of Aristotelian-scholastic science, Newton is known to have distanced himself from classical metaphysics and instead studied the works of Réné Descartes, who’s work conceived the Cartesian mosaic of science that dominated much of 17th century European natural philosophy.[newtons philosophy pp. 13, 55]  
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|Historical Context=Although Newton’s curriculum at the University of Cambridge in the 1660’s would have consisted of Aristotelian-scholastic science, Newton is known to have distanced himself from classical metaphysics and instead studied the works of Réné Descartes, who’s work conceived the Cartesian mosaic of science that dominated much of 17th century European natural philosophy.[[CiteRef::Janiak (2016)|pp. 13,55]]
  
Both Newton’s physics and philosophy were heavily influenced by Descartes’ ideas. Although he disagreed with many of the theories about the natural world adopted in the Cartesian mosaic, it was clear that Newton viewed the Cartesian mosaic as a step forward from the preceding Aristotelian-scholastic one.[p. 55]. When structuring his view of the natural world, Descartes based his model on a Copernican view of the universe, as opposed to the classical geocentric understanding.[1.Newton’s philosophical analysis of space and time, p.37] Geocentrism was an important axiom to theories of motion developed under Aristotelian-scholasticism. With the Earth at the centre of the universe, all motion could be explained causally according to whether the moving object in question existed in the terrestrial or celestial realm, which in that mosaic were thought to be fundamentally different.[Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy, Stanford]  
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Both Newton’s physics and philosophy were heavily influenced by Descartes’ ideas. Although he disagreed with many of the theories about the natural world adopted in the Cartesian mosaic, it was clear that Newton viewed the Cartesian mosaic as a step forward from the preceding Aristotelian-scholastic one.[[CiteRef::Janiak (2016)|p. 55]] When structuring his view of the natural world, Descartes based his model on a Copernican view of the universe, as opposed to the classical geocentric understanding. Geocentrism was an important axiom to theories of motion developed under Aristotelian-scholasticism.[[CiteRef::Disalle (2004)|p. 37]] With the Earth at the centre of the universe, all motion could be explained causally according to whether the moving object in question existed in the terrestrial or celestial realm, which in that mosaic were thought to be fundamentally different.[Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy, Stanford]  
  
 
Once Descartes had adopted Copernican heliocentrism, the causal theory of motion as understood by Aristotelian-scholastic natural philosophers had to be replaced along with its cosmological model. [Cambridge 1. P. 48.] Cartesian mechanics was developed around a radical comprehension that the source of motion was the same for all bodies in the universe. This idea acted as a pillar upon which a new, mechanical philosophy was constructed. According to this philosophy, the source of all motion of material objects is direct, physical contact with other material objects. The mechanical philosophy was adopted by Leibniz, Huygens, and many other prominent scientists who worked alongside Newton, indicating that much of later 17th century science was deeply rooted in Cartesian philosophy. [Cambridge 1.]
 
Once Descartes had adopted Copernican heliocentrism, the causal theory of motion as understood by Aristotelian-scholastic natural philosophers had to be replaced along with its cosmological model. [Cambridge 1. P. 48.] Cartesian mechanics was developed around a radical comprehension that the source of motion was the same for all bodies in the universe. This idea acted as a pillar upon which a new, mechanical philosophy was constructed. According to this philosophy, the source of all motion of material objects is direct, physical contact with other material objects. The mechanical philosophy was adopted by Leibniz, Huygens, and many other prominent scientists who worked alongside Newton, indicating that much of later 17th century science was deeply rooted in Cartesian philosophy. [Cambridge 1.]

Revision as of 20:08, 5 December 2016

Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 – 20 March 1727) was an English mathematician, astronomer, and physicist/natural philosopher who is widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was a natural philosopher who lived and worked in England in the 17th and 18th century. Newton’s most notable contributions were made to the fields of physics, mathematics, and scientific method, which were so groundbreaking that he is currently considered to be one of the most important physicists in modern Western history.1 Philosophers of science credit Newton’s revolutionary theory of gravity and his experimental approach to conducting natural philosophy as outlined in his major work, The Principia, (Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica) to be the foundation for the dominant Newtonian mosaic which influenced much of late 18th and 19th century science.1 Some consider The Principia to be the work that initially created physics as its own scientific field separate from the umbrella of metaphysics and philosophy.1

Historical Context

Although Newton’s curriculum at the University of Cambridge in the 1660’s would have consisted of Aristotelian-scholastic science, Newton is known to have distanced himself from classical metaphysics and instead studied the works of Réné Descartes, who’s work conceived the Cartesian mosaic of science that dominated much of 17th century European natural philosophy.1pp. 13,55

Both Newton’s physics and philosophy were heavily influenced by Descartes’ ideas. Although he disagreed with many of the theories about the natural world adopted in the Cartesian mosaic, it was clear that Newton viewed the Cartesian mosaic as a step forward from the preceding Aristotelian-scholastic one.1p. 55 When structuring his view of the natural world, Descartes based his model on a Copernican view of the universe, as opposed to the classical geocentric understanding. Geocentrism was an important axiom to theories of motion developed under Aristotelian-scholasticism.2p. 37 With the Earth at the centre of the universe, all motion could be explained causally according to whether the moving object in question existed in the terrestrial or celestial realm, which in that mosaic were thought to be fundamentally different.[Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy, Stanford]

Once Descartes had adopted Copernican heliocentrism, the causal theory of motion as understood by Aristotelian-scholastic natural philosophers had to be replaced along with its cosmological model. [Cambridge 1. P. 48.] Cartesian mechanics was developed around a radical comprehension that the source of motion was the same for all bodies in the universe. This idea acted as a pillar upon which a new, mechanical philosophy was constructed. According to this philosophy, the source of all motion of material objects is direct, physical contact with other material objects. The mechanical philosophy was adopted by Leibniz, Huygens, and many other prominent scientists who worked alongside Newton, indicating that much of later 17th century science was deeply rooted in Cartesian philosophy. [Cambridge 1.]

Although Descartes included many revolutionary theories of the natural world in his mosaic, he still largely relied on classical methods of theorizing and conjectured hypotheses in order to construct scientific propositions.[Newtons philosophy] Despite the fact that in the early 17th century Galileo and Boyle had already begun to test proposed theories via experimentation, Descartes still chose to use logical deductions in an attempt to prove empirical truths, instead of attempting any empirical testing or mathematical techniques.[Newtons philosophy] Although many of Newton’s ideas were either adopted directly, or adapted from Descartes views of the natural world, the method of hypotheses is one that Newton rejected outright, and instead sought different methods for arriving at his conclusions.[Newtons philosophy]

Major Contributions

Hakob Barseghyan's lecture on Newtonian Worldview

Newton on Calculus

Whereas Descartes did not rely on mathematical reasoning for his deductions of scientific propositions, Newton believed that mathematics was an imperative part of conducting natural philosophy.[Newtons philosophy] In Newton’s physics, material objects were not required to be in direct contact with each other in order for motion to occur. Instead, objects react to each other via a force, which Newton envisioned as a quantifiable property contained in all material objects, the amount of which is directly proportional to the quantity of matter contained in the object. Quantities of force and matter were thus introduced to the mosaic as ontological entities that were measurable. By applying Newton’s three laws of motion that outlined the mathematical relations between force and matter, the motion of all material objects could be explained and predicted mathematically, thereby giving mathematics a new central role in the study of natural philosophy. In The Principia, Newton made extensive use of mathematics in his argument for the unified theory of gravity.[Newtons principia] The mathematical language used in the Principia was geometry, which was also the basis for many of the major models for celestial mechanics that were studied at the time, including the works of Ptolemy, Copernicus and Kepler.[Newtons Principia]

Even though Newton published his key work in the language of geometry, as a mathematician he is primarily role in inventing integral and differential calculus. He is co-credited independently for the calculus alongside his contemporary and rival natural philosopher, Leibniz. [Cambridge 0. Introduction pp. 13-14] The calculus is a mathematical technique that is capable of solving problems in physics involving acceleration, which is a quantity that lay at the heart of Newton’s theory of motion.[Friedman] It was only in the 18th century that mathematicians Jacob Hermann and Leonhard Euler expressed Newton’s laws of motion using calculus.[Newtons principia, p. 29] In preceding years, calculus became indispensable tool for scientists in the Newtonian mosaic to solve problems in physics, and to predict the behaviour of material objects with an unprecedented degree of accuracy.[Newtons principia] Although geometry is still taught in schools today, the calculus I the primary mathematical technique learned and used in physics and engineering classrooms.

Newton on method

Prior to the publication of The Principia, the philosophy of motion and change in the universe was largely a theoretical and non-mathematical enterprise. The dominating methodological approach to natural philosophy both in the Aristotelian-scholastic and Cartesian mosaic, was one in which truths about the natural world were proposed as conjectural hypotheses. Newton explicitly rejected the method of hypotheses, and instead demanded that all propositions be deduced from the phenomena and then converted into general principles via induction.

In the second edition of The Principia, Newton states:[Newton’s philosophy]

“I have not as yet been able to deduce from phenomena the reason for these properties of gravity, and I do not feign hypotheses. For whatever is not deduced from the phenomena must be called a hypothesis; and hypotheses, whether metaphysical or physical, or based on occult qualities, or mechanical, have no place in experimental philosophy. In this experimental philosophy, propositions are deduced from the phenomena and are made general by induction. The impenetrability, mobility, and impetus of bodies and the laws of motion and law of gravity have been found by this method. And it is enough that gravity should really exist and should act according to the laws that we have set forth and should suffice for all the motions of the heavenly bodies and of our sea.” [Cohen-Whitman translation, via “Newtons Philosophy” in Stanford] 

Newton called his method the experimental philosophy, because theories about the behavior of empirical objects can only be refuted via experimental procedures.[ 4 The methodology of the Principia] He expressed the core beliefs from which he derived his method in a set of four “rules for the study of natural philosophy,” which he stated in book III of The Principia as follows:[Bernard Cohen transl.]:]

1) “No more cause of natural things should be admitted than are both true and sufficient to explain their phenomena” 2) Therefore, the causes assigned to natural effects of the same kind must be, so far as possible, the same 3) Those qualities of bodies that cannot be intended and remitted (i.e. qualities that cannot be increased and diminished) and that belong to all bodies on which experiments can be made should be taken as qualities of all bodies universally” 4) “In experimental philosophy, propositions gathered from phenomena by induction should be considered either exactly or very nearly true nonwithstanding any contrary hypothesis, until yet other phenomena make such propositions either more exact or liable to exceptions”

Out of these four rules a new, active method for conducting science emerged that stood in stark contrast the previous passive and theoretical Cartesian and Aristotelian-scholastic methods. Propositions are born from natural sources and placed back into the natural world to be tested empirically.[Cambridge, chp. 4] As the four rules were absorbed into the ensuing mosaic, the calculus became deeply incorporated in the experimental method, as it was used to mathematically calculate from natural laws an empirical prediction, and then evaluate how exactly the prediction matched the observed reality.

Using these principles, Newton was able to derive the law of universal gravity in the context of his method. In the Cartesian mosaic, the centripetal force had already been defined as the agent that pulled the moon towards the Earth, keeping its orbit circular rather than linear. Newton applied rules 1 and 2 to determine that the centripedal force, and the force that compelled objects to move downwards towards the Earth, were merely two different expressions of the same thing. Newton then went on to apply the third rule, and argue that this force, which he called gravity, must be a universal property of all material objects. From here, he went on to argue for the unification of superlunary and sublunary phenomena. [Cambridge, chpt. 5 pp. 183-184]

Although not all of the ontological changes to the mosaic described in The Principia were immediately accepted, the new experimental philosophy that he described influenced contemporary scientists within the same century of it’s publication. [Newtons philosophy] Both prominent 17th century natural philosophers Christiaan Huygens and John Locke are known to have taken the experimental philosophy, if not necessarily the full content of Newton’s theories, to heart[Newton’s philosophy]. By 1700 the acceptance of “experimental philosophy” methodological structure had overtaken that of Cartesianism in England.[Newton’s philosophy]

Criticism

Although many natural philosophers in the 17th century were convinced by Newton’s views on the the proper method of conducting science, many were not willing to abandon the Cartesian mechanical philosophy. Contemporary philosopher Leibniz in particular was concerned that the theory of gravity as a regression in natural philosophy, as Newton could not account for the source of gravity. To the Cartesians, it was more important that all motion in the universe could be given a direct cause, which was only possible under the mechanical philosophy, even if this amounted to a larger gap between theory and experimental evidence.[newtons philosophy]

Publications

Here are the works of Newton included in the bibliographic records of this encyclopedia:

  • Newton (1999): Newton, Isaac. (1999) The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. University of California Press.
  • Newton (1952): Newton, Isaac. (1952) Opticks or A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections & Colors of Light. Dover Publications.
  • Newton (1704): Newton, Isaac. (1704) Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/opticksortreatis00newt.
  • Newton (1687): Newton, Isaac. (1687) Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). Pepys, London.

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Related Topics

Methodology


References

  1. a b c d e  Janiak, Andrew. (2016) Newton's Philosophy. In Zalta (Ed.) (2016). Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton-philosophy/.
  2. ^  Disalle, Robert. (2004) Newton’s Philosophical Analysis of Space and Time. In Cohen and Smith (Eds.) (2002), 33-56.