The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

Issac Newton

• Publisher: Antique Editions
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Mathematics
• eBook ISBN:
  9782379264375
• Subtopic: Mathematics General
• Index: Mathematics

First published in 1687, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy—commonly known as the Principia—is Isaac Newton's monumental work that laid the foundations of classical mechanics and modern physics. In this groundbreaking treatise, Newton formulates the three laws of motion and the universal law of gravitation, transforming humanity's understanding of the physical universe. Through rigorous mathematical reasoning and precise scientific argument, Newton explains the motion of planets, comets, tides, and objects on Earth, uniting celestial and terrestrial mechanics under a single set of principles. The work not only reshaped science in the 17th century but also influenced philosophy, engineering, and scientific thought for centuries to come. A cornerstone of scientific history, the Principia remains one of the most important and influential works ever written in the field of physics and mathematics.

Table of contents

• Top
• The Authors Preface
• Definitions.
• Axioms, or Laws of Motion.
• Book i. Of the Motion of Bodies.
• Of the method of first and last ratios of quantities.
• Of the Invention of Centripetal Forces.
• Of the motion of bodies in eccentric conic sections.
• Of the finding of elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic orbits, from the focus given.
• How the orbits are to be found when neither focus is given.
• How the motions are to be found in given orbits.
• Concerning the rectilinear ascent and descent of bodies.
• Of the invention of orbits wherein bodies will revolve, being acted upon by any sort of centripetal force.
• Of the motion of bodies in moveable orbits; and of the motion of the apsides.
• Of the motion of bodies in given superficies, and of the reciprocal motion of funependulous bodies.
• Of the motions of bodies tending to each other with centripetal forces.
• Of the attractive forces of sphaerical bodies.
• Of the attractive forces of bodies which are not of a sphaerical figure.
• Of the motion of very small bodies when agitated by centripetal forces tending to the several parts of any very great body.
• Book ii. Of the Motion of Bodies.
• Of the motion of bodies that are resisted in the ratio of the velocity.
• Of the motion of bodies that are resisted in the duplicate ratio of their velocities.
• Of the motions of bodies which are resisted partly in the ratio of the velocities, and partly in the duplicate of the same ratio.
• Of the circular motion of bodies in resisting mediums.
• Of the density and compression of fluids; and of hydrostatics.
• Of the motion and resistance of funependulous bodies.
• Of the motion of fluids, and the resistance made to projected bodies.
• Of motion propagated through fluids.
• Of the circular motion of fluids.
• Book iii.
• Rules of Reasoning in Philosophy.
• Phaenomena, or Appearances.
• Propositions
• General Scholium.
• Index.