Diagrams for Newton's Principia
Date
14 July 1686
Creator
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727, British) , Natural philosopher
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p1
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 329mm
width (page): 208mm
width (page): 208mm
Subject
Description
Diagrams to illustrate the parallelogram of forces and the triangle of forces in the case of weights suspended by strings or supported on smooth inclined planes. On deciding (at the recommendation of Edmond Halley) to use woodcuts for the diagrams in the Principia, Isaac Newton suggested dividing an earlier figure into two.
From Newton's letter to Halley dated 14 July 1686. The diagrams were printed in the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), pp. 13 and 14. (See Correspondence of Isaac Newton, ed. by Turnbull, II (1960), 445n1.)
From Newton's letter to Halley dated 14 July 1686. The diagrams were printed in the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), pp. 13 and 14. (See Correspondence of Isaac Newton, ed. by Turnbull, II (1960), 445n1.)
Related fellows
Edmond Halley (1656 - 1742, British) , Astronomer
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727, British) , Natural philosopher
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727, British) , Natural philosopher
Associated place