The Laws of Dynamics, and their Treatment in Text-Books

Extract

In the preceding discussion of the Galileo-Newton theory, force has been introduced as measured by mass-acceleration, in accordance with the generally accepted procedure. The existence of laws, connecting force with the conditions accompanying it, has been referred to as a fundamental fact which makes the theory possible; though, as a matter of logical order, all details as to such laws have been put into a secondary position. The recognition of the fact that acceleration was the thing, which could be connected by laws with the conditions under which a body moved, has been mentioned as Galileo’s great achievement. This was historically the first and most important, and was probably the most difficult, step to be taken. There is no record of any suggestion of it before Galileo’s time, and no theory of motion of any value had been constructed on any other basis. Perhaps the nearest approach to such a theory was the study of the celestial motions on the basis of circular motion; and this was not capable of progressing beyond the empirical stage.