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kleft234 t1_j28feom wrote

Reply to comment by Obvious_Swimming3227 in Before Newton, how did people explain falling apples? by maugustus

They didn't have good math either. Newton (and others) made up calculus, but not just that.

Even the abstract notation of polynomials and equations, by using letters to represent variables, was kind of new in Newton's time. This was due to Viete, in XVI century, and I would guess it was one of most important inventions for math and science ever.

Imagine how it was to study equations by saying "the double of the square of a quantity plus three times the same quantity is equal to 5"

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Obvious_Swimming3227 t1_j28fndx wrote

I got into physics because of Einstein, but I'm pretty well convinced Newton now was the real boss. If he were here today, he'd still be making groundbreaking contributions. Also worth mentioning his eureka moment was not realizing gravity was responsible for apples falling to the ground, but realizing that one and the same thing could explain that, the orbits of planets and ocean tides. The popular picture we have of him doesn't do him any justice at all.

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The_Last_Y t1_j28s7no wrote

Newton wasn’t they only person working on Gravity. Robert Hooke (and others) developed a lot of the theoretical backing for Gravity. He just didn’t know Calculus so he couldn’t connect theory to observations. Imo, the popular picture of Newton is largely of his own design; he used his position of power to take credit for things like Calculus and Gravity and downplay those who help contribute.

Gravity like most discoveries wasn’t divined in a single moment by a single person but was dozens of astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians asking questions and pushing the boundaries of our understanding. Newton once said he was standing on the shoulders of giants because he couldn’t have made the discoveries he did without those before and around him.

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Obvious_Swimming3227 t1_j28sihd wrote

That's actually a fair point, and, I'll admit, I occasionally fall into the habit of believing in the light of a single genius still: That's pretty much never true. Thank you for the correction.

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Asymptote_X t1_j28zgn4 wrote

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." - Newton

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seriousnotshirley t1_j2909w1 wrote

Newton was the one who really pulled everything together in a fundamental way. Barrow (his advisor) developed a lot of Calculus as did Fermat and Descartes before him and Barrow suspected the fundamental theorem of Calculus but it was Newton who proved it (to the standards of the day) and that was the key to confidently solving differential equations. While the problems of differentiation and integration are what we think of as Calculus that's not really what it's about, it's really about solving differential equations and that's what Newton advanced and then applied to problems of physics of the day.

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