Quote:
Originally Posted by Robh
It took an astute mind like Newton's to develop the equations to describe the motion of the planets. In fact he had to develop calculus to help him along.
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I think it was Kepler who first (correctly) described the motion of the planets. Newton developed and formalised concepts like inertia (what Kepler initially called “laziness” but couldn’t explain from a physics point of view) and acceleration.
Regarding calculus, I think both Newton and Leibniz approached this around about the same time, Newton from a physics/mechanics perspective and Leibniz out of pure mathematical necessity.
The d/dx notation is Leibniz’, the “dot over the x” sometimes seen in physics and engineering is Newton’s.