NEWTON, Isaac.

£125,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. First edition in English of the "greatest work in the history of science", which produced a general revolution in human thought (PMM). First published in Latin in 1687, the Principia outlined in mathematical terms the principles of gravity, time, force, and motion. "Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler had certainly shown the way; but where they describe the phenomena they observed, Newton explained the underlying universal laws" (PMM).This first English translation, published two years after Newton's death, was prepared by Andrew Motte (1696-1734), the son of the publisher Benjamin Motte Sr and brother of the printer Benjamin Motte Jr. It is based on the 1726 third edition of the Latin text, edited by Henry Pemberton, and is dedicated to Sir Hans Sloane as President of the Royal Society. John Machin's attempt to rectify Newton's lunar theory is appended to the second volume. Machin (c.1686-1751) was on the Royal Society's committee set up to adjudicate the priority dispute between Newton and Leibniz over the invention of the calculus, which vindicated Newton. Machin was the professor of astronomy at Gresham College from 1713 until his death.

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