‘Principia’, by Isaac Newton, marked a turning point in the development of science
Among the great books of science are, without a doubt, ‘The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin; ‘Physics’, by Aristotle; ‘De Humanis Corporis Fabrica’, by Andreas Vesalius ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium’, by Nicholas Copernicus. All of them were true intellectual tsunamis and neuronal seismic movements that undermined the beliefs that were considered untouchable until that moment.
Obviously many books are missing from this brief, pen-fly list, including one that many consider being the best science book in all of history. The treatise arrived in bookstores on July 5, 1687, and was signed by a scientist who was going to be a farmer but that providence wanted him to become one of the most illustrious minds in Science: Isaac Newton (1642-1727).
Written in Latin and not in English
The truth is that Newton was very lucky to be born prematurely and posthumously, three months after his father had died, a fact that drastically changed his destiny. When his mother remarried Barnabas Smith, the presence of little Isaac was ‘disturbing’. This motivated him to be sent to live with his grandparents so he could receive a broader education.
During his childhood and youth he was not a child prodigy, his personality was sullen and nothing hinted at the figure he would become many years later. When he turned fourteen, his stepfather passed away and this prompted him to return to his native village.
The second stroke of luck came when the Reverend William Ayscough, Isaac’s uncle, convinced his mother to send him to Cambridge to study, instead of keeping him working on the family farm. Within the walls of that institution, he found the atmosphere and hospitality conducive to developing his full intellectual potential.
At first, he was interested in chemistry, a discipline that would change to mathematics when he read the geometry of Euclid. After his graduation, he would obtain different academic positions until in 1669 he was appointed professor of mathematics.
In 1687, after the repeated insistence of his friend the astronomer Edmund Halley (1665-1742), he decided to publish ‘Philosophiae Naturalis Principia mathematical (Mathematical principles of natural philosophy) or simply ‘Principia’. A book, written in Latin, would give a huge ‘role’ to science. We must not forget that Newtonian mechanics together with the classical electromagnetism of JC Maxwell (1831-1879) are the two pillars of Classical Physics.
Three transcendental laws
The book was divided into three parts and there Newton’s findings in the field of mechanics and mathematical calculation were made known, after years of dedicated body and soul to the study and work in these disciplines. In ‘Principia’ the three laws of motion were described for the first time.
Newton’s First Law states that all bodies remain in their state of rest or motion in a straight line unless forced to change that state by impressed forces. The Second Law states that the change in motion is proportional to the motive force impressed and is made in the direction of the straight line in which that force is impressed. According to the Third Law, for every action, there is always an opposite and equal reaction, the reciprocal actions of two bodies with each other are always equal and directed towards opposite parties.
During Newton’s lifetime, ‘Principia’ saw three editions, the first with a print run of between three and four hundred copies; the second, revised, modified, and increased by the author himself in 1713; and the third revised by Henry Pemberton, in 1726.
A personal copy of the first edition of ‘Principia’ with annotations and handwritten corrections by Isaac Newton is now held in the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge.
