Editing History of physics (section)

== Scientific Revolution ==

During the 16th and 17th centuries, a large advancement of scientific progress known as the [[Scientific Revolution]] took place in Europe. Dissatisfaction with older philosophical approaches had begun earlier and had produced other changes in society, such as the [[Protestant Reformation]], but the revolution in science began when [[Natural philosophy|natural philosophers]] began to mount a sustained attack on the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] philosophical programme and supposed that mathematical descriptive schemes adopted from such fields as mechanics and astronomy could actually yield universally valid characterizations of motion and other concepts.

===Nicolaus Copernicus===
{{main|Nicolaus Copernicus|Tycho Brahe|Johannes Kepler}}
[[File:Nikolaus Kopernikus.jpg|thumb|upright|Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) developed a [[Heliocentrism|heliocentric]] model of the [[Solar System]].]]
A breakthrough in [[astronomy]] was made by [[Renaissance]] astronomer [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] (1473–1543) when, in 1543, he gave strong arguments for the heliocentric model of the Solar System, ostensibly as a means to render tables charting planetary motion more accurate and to simplify their production. In heliocentric models of the Solar system, the Earth orbits the Sun along with other bodies in [[Milky Way|Earth's]] [[galaxy]], a contradiction according to the Greek-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (2nd century CE; see above), [[Ptolemaic system|whose system]] placed the Earth at the center of the Universe and had been accepted for over 1,400 years. The Greek astronomer [[Aristarchus of Samos]] ({{Circa|310|230 BCE}}) had suggested that the Earth revolves around the Sun, but Copernicus's reasoning led to lasting general acceptance of this "revolutionary" idea. Copernicus's book presenting the theory (''[[De revolutionibus orbium coelestium]]'', "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres") was published just before his death in 1543 and, as it is now generally considered to mark the beginning of modern astronomy, is also considered to mark the beginning of the Scientific Revolution.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} Copernicus's new perspective, along with the accurate observations made by [[Tycho Brahe]], enabled German astronomer [[Johannes Kepler]] (1571–1630) to formulate [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion|his laws regarding planetary motion]] that remain in use today.

===Galileo Galilei===
{{main|Galileo Galilei}}
[[File:Galileo.arp.300pix.jpg|thumb|upright|Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), early proponent of the modern scientific worldview and method]]
The Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) was a supporter of Copernicanism who made numerous astronomical discoveries, carried out empirical experiments and improved the telescope. As a mathematician, Galileo's role in the [[History of European research universities|university]] culture of his era was subordinated to the three major topics of study: [[law]], [[medicine]], and [[theology]] (which was closely allied to philosophy). Galileo, however, felt that the descriptive content of the technical disciplines warranted philosophical interest, particularly because mathematical analysis of astronomical observations&nbsp;– notably, Copernicus's analysis of the [[relative motion]]s of the Sun, Earth, Moon, and planets&nbsp;– indicated that philosophers' statements about the nature of the universe could be shown to be in error. Galileo also performed mechanical experiments, insisting that motion itself&nbsp;– regardless of whether it was produced "naturally" or "artificially" (i.e. deliberately)&nbsp;– had universally consistent characteristics that could be described mathematically.

Galileo's early studies at the [[University of Pisa]] were in medicine, but he was soon drawn to mathematics and physics. At age 19, he discovered (and, [[Galileo Galilei#Career as a scientist|subsequently, verified]]) the [[:wikt:isochronal|isochronal]] nature of the [[pendulum]] when, using his pulse, he timed the oscillations of a swinging lamp in [[Piazza dei Miracoli|Pisa's cathedral]] and found that it remained the same for each swing regardless of the swing's [[amplitude]]. He soon became known through his invention of a [[hydrostatic balance]] and for his treatise on the [[Center of mass#Center of gravity|center of gravity]] of solid bodies. While teaching at the University of Pisa (1589–1592), he initiated his experiments concerning the laws of bodies in motion that brought results so contradictory to the accepted teachings of Aristotle that strong antagonism was aroused. He found that bodies do not fall with velocities [[Proportionality (mathematics)|proportional]] to their weights. The story in which Galileo is said to have [[Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment|dropped weights from]] the [[Leaning Tower of Pisa]] is apocryphal, but he did find that the [[Ballistic trajectory|path of a projectile]] is a [[parabola]] and is credited with conclusions that anticipated [[Newton's laws of motion]] (e.g. the notion of inertia). Among these is what is now called [[Galilean relativity]], the first precisely formulated statement about properties of space and time outside [[Three-dimensional space|three-dimensional geometry]].{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

[[File:Jupiter and the Galilean Satellites.jpg|thumb|Composite montage comparing [[Jupiter]] (''left'') and its four [[Galilean moons]] (''from top'': [[Io (moon)|Io]], [[Europa (moon)|Europa]], [[Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede]], [[Callisto (moon)|Callisto]])]]

Galileo has been called the "father of modern [[observational astronomy]]",<ref>{{citation |title=A Short History of Science to the Nineteenth Century |first=Charles |last=Singer |year=1941 |publisher=Clarendon Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mPIgAAAAMAAJ }}, page 217.</ref> the "father of modern physics", the "father of science",<ref name="Einstein">{{citation |last=Weidhorn |first=Manfred |title=The Person of the Millennium: The Unique Impact of Galileo on World History |year=2005 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=0-595-36877-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/personofmillenni0000weid/page/155 155] |url=https://archive.org/details/personofmillenni0000weid/page/155 }}</ref> and "the father of [[modern science]]".<ref name="finocchiaro2007">[[#Reference-Finocchiaro-2007|Finocchiaro (2007)]]{{Broken anchor|date=2024-12-25|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=#Reference-Finocchiaro-2007|reason= }}.</ref> According to [[Stephen Hawking]], "Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science."<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Galileo and the Birth of Modern Science|journal=[[American Heritage of Invention & Technology|American Heritage's Invention & Technology]]|volume=24|date=2009|page=36|url=https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/galileo-and-birth-modern-science|access-date=2020-09-15}}</ref> As religious orthodoxy decreed a [[Geocentricism|geocentric]] or [[Tychonic system|Tychonic]] understanding of the Solar system, Galileo's support for heliocentrism provoked controversy and he was tried by the [[Inquisition]]. Found "vehemently suspect of heresy", he was forced to recant and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

The contributions that Galileo made to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the [[phases of Venus]]; his discovery, in 1609, of [[Moons of Jupiter|Jupiter's four largest moons]] (subsequently given the collective name of the "[[Galilean moons]]"); and the observation and analysis of [[sunspot]]s. Galileo also pursued applied science and technology, inventing, among other instruments, a military [[compass]]. His discovery of the Jovian moons [[Sidereus Nuncius|was published in 1610]], enabling him to obtain the position of mathematician and philosopher to the [[Medici]] court. As such, he was expected to engage in debates with philosophers in the Aristotelian tradition and received a large audience for his own publications such as the ''[[Two New Sciences|Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Concerning Two New Sciences]]'' (published abroad following his arrest for the publication of ''[[Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems]]'') and ''[[The Assayer]]''.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Drake|1978}}</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Biagioli|1993}}</ref> Galileo's interest in experimenting with and formulating mathematical descriptions of motion established experimentation as an integral part of natural philosophy. This tradition, combining with the non-mathematical emphasis on the collection of "experimental histories" by philosophical reformists such as [[William Gilbert (astronomer)|William Gilbert]] and [[Francis Bacon]], drew a significant following in the years leading to and following Galileo's death, including [[Evangelista Torricelli]] and the participants in the [[Accademia del Cimento]] in Italy; [[Marin Mersenne]] and [[Blaise Pascal]] in France; [[Christiaan Huygens]] in the Netherlands; and [[Robert Hooke]] and [[Robert Boyle]] in England.

===Johannes Kepler===
{{main|Johannes Kepler}}
[[File:Kepler-62f with 62e as Morning Star.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Artist's rendition of [[Kepler-62f]], a potentially habitable [[exoplanet]] discovered using data transmitted by [[Kepler space telescope]], named for Kepler]]
[[File:JKepler.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Johannes Kepler]] (1571–1630)]]

[[Johannes Kepler]] (1571–1630) was a German [[astronomer]], [[German mathematician|mathematician]], [[astrologer]], [[Natural philosophy|natural philosopher]] and a key figure in the 17th century [[Scientific Revolution]], best known for his [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion|laws of planetary motion]], and his books ''[[Astronomia nova]]'', ''[[Harmonice Mundi]]'', and ''[[Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae]]'', influencing among others [[Isaac Newton]], providing one of the foundations for his theory of [[Newton's law of universal gravitation|universal gravitation]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Voelkel|first=James R.|date=2001|title=Commentary on Ernan McMullin, "The Impact of Newton's Principia on the Philosophy of Science"|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3080920|journal=Philosophy of Science|volume=68|issue=3|pages=319–326|doi=10.1086/392885|jstor=3080920|s2cid=144781947|issn=0031-8248}}</ref> The variety and impact of his work made Kepler one of the founders of modern [[astronomy]], the [[scientific method]], [[Natural science|natural]] and [[modern science]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/milestones/greatinventors/johanneskepler/index.html | title=DPMA &#124; Johannes Kepler }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/kepler/education/johannes |title=Johannes Kepler: His Life, His Laws and Times &#124; NASA |access-date=1 September 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624003856/https://www.nasa.gov/kepler/education/johannes/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/kepler.html | title=Molecular Expressions: Science, Optics and You – Timeline – Johannes Kepler }}</ref>

Kepler was partly driven by his belief that there is an intelligible plan that is accessible through [[reason]].<ref>Barker and Goldstein. "Theological Foundations of Kepler's Astronomy", ''Osiris'', 16, 2001, pp.&nbsp;112–113.</ref> Kepler described his new astronomy as "celestial physics",<ref>Kepler. ''New Astronomy'', title page, tr. Donohue, pp.&nbsp;26–27</ref> as "an excursion into Aristotle's ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]''",<ref>Kepler. ''New Astronomy'', p. 48</ref> and as "a supplement to Aristotle's ''[[On the Heavens]]''{{-"}},<ref>''Epitome of Copernican Astronomy'' in ''Great Books of the Western World'', Vol. 15, p. 845</ref> treating astronomy as part of a universal mathematical physics.<ref>Stephenson. ''Kepler's Physical Astronomy'', pp.&nbsp;1–2; Dear, ''Revolutionizing the Sciences'', pp.&nbsp;74–78</ref>

===René Descartes===
{{main|René Descartes}}
[[File:Frans Hals - Portret van René Descartes.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[René Descartes]] (1596–1650)]]
The French philosopher [[René Descartes]] (1596–1650) was well-connected to, and influential within, experimental philosophy networks. Descartes had an agenda, however, which was geared toward replacing the Scholastic philosophical tradition. Questioning the reality interpreted through the senses, Descartes sought to re-establish philosophical explanations by reducing all phenomena to the motion of an invisible sea of "corpuscles". (Notably, he reserved human thought and [[God]] from his scheme, holding these to be separate from the physical universe). In proposing this philosophical framework, Descartes supposed that different kinds of motion, such as that of planets versus that of terrestrial objects, were not fundamentally different, but were manifestations of an endless chain of corpuscular motions obeying universal principles. Particularly influential were his explanations for circular astronomical motions in terms of the vortex motion of corpuscles in space (Descartes argued, in accord with the beliefs, if not the methods, of the Scholastics, that a [[vacuum]] could not exist), and his explanation of [[gravity]] in terms of corpuscles pushing objects downward.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Shea|1991}}</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Garber|1992}}</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Gaukroger|2002}}</ref>

Descartes, like Galileo, was convinced of the importance of mathematical explanation, and he and his followers were key figures in the development of mathematics and geometry in the 17th century. Cartesian mathematical descriptions of motion held that all mathematical formulations had to be justifiable in terms of direct physical action, a position held by [[Christiaan Huygens|Huygens]] and the German philosopher [[Gottfried Leibniz]], who, while following in the Cartesian tradition, developed his own philosophical alternative to Scholasticism, which he outlined in his 1714 work, the ''[[Monadology]]''. Descartes has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy", and much subsequent [[Western philosophy]] is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. In particular, his ''[[Meditations on First Philosophy]]'' continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes' influence in mathematics is equally apparent; the [[Cartesian coordinate system]]&nbsp;– allowing algebraic equations to be expressed as geometric shapes in a two-dimensional coordinate system&nbsp;– was named after him. He is credited as the father of [[analytical geometry]], the bridge between [[algebra]] and [[geometry]], important to the discovery of [[calculus]] and [[Mathematical analysis|analysis]].

===Christiaan Huygens===
{{main|Christiaan Huygens}}
[[File:Christiaan_Huygens-painting.jpeg|thumb|upright|Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695)]]
The Dutch physicist, mathematician, astronomer and inventor Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) was the leading scientist in Europe between Galileo and Newton. Huygens came from a family of nobility that had an important position in the Dutch society of the 17th century; a time in which the [[Dutch Republic]] flourished economically and culturally. This period&nbsp;– roughly between 1588 and 1702&nbsp;– of the [[history of the Netherlands]] is also referred to as the [[Dutch Golden Age]], an era during the Scientific Revolution when Dutch science was among the most acclaimed in Europe. At this time, intellectuals and scientists like René Descartes, [[Baruch Spinoza]], [[Pierre Bayle]], [[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek]], [[John Locke]] and [[Hugo Grotius]] resided in the Netherlands. It was in this intellectual environment that Christiaan Huygens grew up. Christiaan's father, [[Constantijn Huygens]], was, apart from an important poet, the secretary and diplomat for the Princes of Orange. He knew many scientists of his time because of his contacts and intellectual interests, including René Descartes and [[Marin Mersenne]], and it was because of these contacts that Christiaan Huygens became aware of their work, especially Descartes, whose mechanistic philosophy was going to have a huge influence on Huygens' own work. Descartes was later impressed by the skills Huygens showed in geometry, as was Mersenne, who christened him "the new Archimedes" (which led Constantijn to refer to his son as "my little Archimedes").

A child prodigy, Huygens began his correspondence with Marin Mersenne when he was 17 years old. Huygens became interested in [[games of chance]] when he encountered the work of [[Fermat]], [[Blaise Pascal]] and [[Girard Desargues]]. It was Pascal who encouraged him to write ''Van Rekeningh in Spelen van Gluck'', which [[Frans van Schooten]] translated and published as ''De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae'' in 1657. The book is the earliest known scientific treatment of the subject, and at the time the most coherent presentation of a mathematical approach to games of chance. Two years later Huygens derived geometrically the now standard formulae in classical mechanics for the [[centripetal force|centripetal-]] and [[centrifugal force]] in his work ''De vi Centrifuga'' (1659). Around the same time Huygens' research in [[horology]] resulted in the invention of the [[pendulum clock]]; a breakthrough in timekeeping and the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years. The theoretical research of the way the pendulum works eventually led to the publication of one of his most important achievements: the [[Horologium Oscillatorium]]. This work was published in 1673 and became one of the three most important 17th century works on mechanics (the other two being Galileo's ''[[Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences]]'' (1638) and Newton's ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'' (1687)<ref name="bell">{{cite journal | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/277775/Christiaan-Huygens?anchor=ref136385 | title=The Horologium Oscillatorium of Christian Huygens | date =  30 Aug 1941 | access-date=14 November 2013 | author=Bell, A. E. | journal=Nature | volume=148 | issue=3748 | pages=245–248 | doi= 10.1038/148245a0| bibcode=1941Natur.148..245B | s2cid=4112797 }}</ref>). The ''Horologium Oscillatorium'' is the first modern treatise in which a physical problem (the [[Acceleration|accelerated motion]] of a falling body) is [[Mathematical model|idealized by a set of parameters]] then analyzed mathematically and constitutes one of the seminal works of [[applied mathematics]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Yoder|first=Joella G.|author-link=Joella Yoder |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/unrolling-time/1427509C7A14C464B08209322E42ABB6|title=Unrolling Time: Christiaan Huygens and the Mathematization of Nature|date=1988|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-34140-0|location=Cambridge}}</ref><ref name=":5">Bruce, I. (2007). ''[http://www.17centurymaths.com/contents/huygenscontents.html Christian Huygens: Horologium Oscillatorium]''. Translated and annotated by Ian Bruce.</ref> It is for this reason, Huygens has been called the first [[Theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]] and one of the founders of modern [[mathematical physics]].<ref name=":6">Dijksterhuis, F. J. (2008) Stevin, Huygens and the Dutch republic. ''Nieuw archief voor wiskunde'', ''5'', pp. 100–107.[https://research.utwente.nl/files/6673130/Dijksterhuis_naw5-2008-09-2-100.pdf]</ref><ref>Andriesse, C. D. (2005) ''Huygens: The Man Behind the Principle''. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge: 6.</ref> Huygens' ''Horologium Oscillatorium'' influenced the work of Isaac Newton, who admired the work. For instance, the laws Huygens described in the ''Horologium Oscillatorium'' are structurally the same as Newton's first two [[Newton's laws of motion|laws of motion]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Iliffe |first1=Rob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=se27CwAAQBAJ&dq=Although+Huygens+does+not+state+his+second+law+in+the+full+generality+found+in+the+Principia%2C+the+model+is+structurally+the+same%3A+first%2C+an+inertial+motion&pg=PA75 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Newton |last2=Smith |first2=George E. |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107015463 |page=75}}</ref>

Five years after the publication of his ''Horologium Oscillatorium'', Huygens described his [[wave theory of light]]. Though proposed in 1678, it was not published until 1690 in his [[Traité de la Lumière]]. His mathematical theory of light was initially rejected in favour of Newton's corpuscular theory of light, until [[Augustin-Jean Fresnel]] adopted Huygens' principle to give a complete explanation of the rectilinear propagation and diffraction effects of light in 1821. Today this principle is known as the [[Huygens–Fresnel principle]].

As an astronomer, Huygens began grinding lenses with his brother Constantijn Jr. to build telescopes for astronomical research. He was the first to identify the rings of [[Saturn]] as "a thin, flat ring, nowhere touching, and inclined to the ecliptic," and discovered the first of Saturn's moons, [[Titan (moon)|Titan]], using a [[refracting telescope]].

Huygens was also the first who brought mathematical rigor to the description of physical phenomena. Because of this, and the fact that he developed institutional frameworks for scientific research on the continent, he has been referred to as "the leading actor in 'the making of science in Europe{{'"}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Aldersey-Williams|first=H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7n7VDwAAQBAJ&q=In+the+case+of+two+bodies+which+meet%2C+the+quantity+obtained+by+taking+the+sum+of+their+masses+multiplied+by+the+squares+of+their+velocities+will+be+found+to+beequal+before+and+after+the+collision.%E2%80%99&pg=PP86|title=Dutch Light: Christiaan Huygens and the Making of Science in Europe|date=2020|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=978-1-5098-9332-4|language=en|access-date=28 August 2021|page=24}}</ref>

===Isaac Newton===
{{main|Isaac Newton|History of classical mechanics}}
[[File:GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727)]]
[[Cambridge University]] physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) was a fellow of the [[Royal Society|Royal Society of England]], who created a single system for describing the workings of the universe. Newton formulated three laws of motion which formulated the relationship between motion and objects and also the [[Newton's law of universal gravitation|law of universal gravitation]], the latter of which could be used to explain the behavior not only of falling bodies on the earth but also planets and other celestial bodies. To arrive at his results, Newton invented one form of an entirely new branch of mathematics: [[calculus]] (also invented independently by [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Gottfried Leibniz]]), which was to become an essential tool in much of the later development in most branches of physics. Newton's findings were set forth in his ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'' ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), the publication of which in 1687 marked the beginning of the modern period of mechanics and astronomy.

Newton refuted the Cartesian mechanical tradition that all motions should be explained with respect to the immediate force exerted by corpuscles. Using his three laws of motion and law of universal gravitation, Newton removed the idea that objects followed paths determined by natural shapes and instead demonstrated that all the future motions of any body could be deduced mathematically based on knowledge of their existing motion, their [[mass]], and the [[force]]s acting upon them. However, observed celestial motions did not precisely conform to a Newtonian treatment, and Newton, who was also deeply interested in [[theology]], imagined that God intervened to ensure the continued stability of the solar system.

[[File:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Bernhard Christoph Francke.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Gottfried Leibniz]] (1646–1716)]]

Newton's principles (but not his mathematical treatments) proved controversial with Continental philosophers, who found his lack of [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] explanation for movement and gravitation philosophically unacceptable. Beginning around 1700, a bitter rift opened between the Continental and British philosophical traditions, which were stoked by heated, ongoing, and viciously personal disputes between the followers of Newton and Leibniz concerning priority over the analytical techniques of calculus, which each had developed independently. Initially, the Cartesian and Leibnizian traditions prevailed on the Continent (leading to the dominance of the Leibnizian calculus notation everywhere except Britain). Newton himself remained privately disturbed at the lack of a philosophical understanding of gravitation while insisting in his writings that none was necessary to infer its reality. As the 18th century progressed, Continental natural philosophers increasingly accepted the Newtonians' willingness to forgo [[Ontology|ontological]] metaphysical explanations for mathematically described motions.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hall|1980}}</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Bertolini Meli|1993}}</ref><ref name="Guicciardini1999">{{Harvtxt|Guicciardini|1999}}</ref>

Newton built the first functioning [[reflecting telescope]]<ref name="Wilson2013">{{cite book |author=Wilson |first=Raymond N. |title=Reflecting Telescope Optics I: Basic Design Theory and its Historical Development |date=2013 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-662-03227-5 |pages=1–10 |chapter=1.1 Period 1608–1672 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmbyCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18}}</ref> and developed a theory of color, published in ''[[Opticks]]'', based on the observation that a [[Triangular prism (optics)|prism]] decomposes [[Electromagnetic spectrum#Visible radiation (light)|white light]] into the many colours forming the [[visible spectrum]]. While Newton explained light as being composed of tiny particles, a rival theory of light which explained its behavior in terms of waves was presented in 1690 by Christiaan Huygens. However, the belief in the mechanistic philosophy coupled with Newton's reputation meant that the wave theory saw relatively little support until the 19th century. Newton also formulated [[Newton's law of cooling|an empirical law of cooling]], studied the [[speed of sound]], investigated [[power series]], demonstrated the [[Binomial theorem|generalised binomial theorem]] and developed [[Newton's method|a method]] for approximating the [[Root of a function|roots of a function]]. His work on infinite series was inspired by [[Simon Stevin]]'s decimals.<ref>{{citation |last1=Błaszczyk |first1=Piotr |last2=Katz |first2=Mikhail |author2-link=Mikhail Katz |last3=Sherry |first3=David |arxiv=1202.4153 |doi=10.1007/s10699-012-9285-8 |journal=[[Foundations of Science]] |pages= 43–74|title=Ten misconceptions from the history of analysis and their debunking |volume= 18|year=2012|bibcode=2012arXiv1202.4153B |s2cid=119134151 }}</ref> Most importantly, Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws, which were neither capricious nor malevolent. By demonstrating the consistency between [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion]] and his own theory of gravitation, Newton also removed the last doubts about heliocentrism. By bringing together all the ideas set forth during the Scientific Revolution, Newton effectively established the foundation for modern society in mathematics and science.

===Other achievements===
Other branches of physics also received attention during the period of the Scientific Revolution. [[William Gilbert (astronomer)|William Gilbert]], court physician to [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], described how the earth itself behaves like a giant magnet. [[Robert Boyle]] (1627–1691) studied the behavior of gases enclosed in a chamber and formulated the [[Boyle's law|gas law named for him]]; he also contributed to physiology and to the founding of modern chemistry.

Another factor in the Scientific Revolution was the rise of learned societies and academies in various countries. The earliest of these were in Italy and Germany and were short-lived. More influential were the [[Royal Society of England]] (1660) and the [[Academy of Sciences (France)|Academy of Sciences in France]] (1666). The former was a private institution in London and included [[John Wallis]], [[William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker|William Brouncker]], [[Thomas Sydenham]], [[John Mayow]], and [[Christopher Wren]] (who contributed not only to architecture but also to astronomy and anatomy); the latter, in Paris, was a government institution and included as a foreign member the Dutchman Huygens. In the 18th century, important royal academies were established at Berlin (1700) and at St. Petersburg (1724). The societies and academies provided the principal opportunities for the publication and discussion of scientific results during and after the scientific revolution. In 1690, [[James Bernoulli]] showed that the [[cycloid]] is the solution to the tautochrone problem; and the following year, in 1691, [[Johann Bernoulli]] showed that a chain freely suspended from two points will form a [[catenary]], the curve with the lowest possible [[center of gravity]] available to any chain hung between two fixed points. He then showed, in 1696, that the cycloid is the solution to the [[brachistochrone]] problem.

====Early thermodynamics====
A precursor of the engine was designed by the German scientist [[Otto von Guericke]] who, in 1650, designed and built the world's first [[vacuum pump]] to create a [[vacuum]] as demonstrated in the [[Magdeburg hemispheres]] experiment. He was driven to make a vacuum to disprove Aristotle's long-held supposition that [[Horror vacui (physics)|'Nature abhors a vacuum']]. Shortly thereafter, Irish physicist and chemist Boyle had learned of Guericke's designs and in 1656, in coordination with English scientist [[Robert Hooke]], built an air pump. Using this pump, Boyle and Hooke noticed the pressure-volume correlation for a gas: ''PV'' = ''k'', where ''P'' is [[pressure]], ''V'' is [[volume]] and ''k'' is a constant: this relationship is known as [[Boyle's law]]. In that time, air was assumed to be a system of motionless particles, and not interpreted as a system of moving molecules. The concept of thermal motion came two centuries later. Therefore, Boyle's publication in 1660 speaks about a mechanical concept: the air spring.<ref>New Experiments physico-mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air and its Effects (1660). [http://www.imss.fi.it/vuoto/eboyle.html]</ref> Later, after the invention of the thermometer, the property temperature could be quantified. This tool gave [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac]] the opportunity to derive [[Gay-Lussac's law|his law]], which led shortly later to the [[ideal gas law]]. But, already before the establishment of the ideal gas law, an associate of Boyle's named [[Denis Papin]] built in 1679 a bone digester, which is a closed vessel with a tightly fitting lid that confines steam until a high pressure is generated.

Later designs implemented a steam release valve to keep the machine from exploding. By watching the valve rhythmically move up and down, Papin conceived of the idea of a piston and cylinder engine. He did not however follow through with his design. Nevertheless, in 1697, based on Papin's designs, engineer [[Thomas Savery]] built the first engine. Although these early engines were crude and inefficient, they attracted the attention of the leading scientists of the time. Hence, prior to 1698 and the invention of the [[steam engine|Savery Engine]], horses were used to power pulleys, attached to buckets, which lifted water out of flooded salt mines in England. In the years to follow, more variations of steam engines were built, such as the [[Newcomen steam engine|Newcomen Engine]], and later the [[Watt steam engine|Watt Engine]]. In time, these early engines would replace horses. Thus, each engine began to be associated with a certain amount of "horse power" depending upon how many horses it had replaced. The main problem with these first engines was that they were slow and clumsy, converting less than 2% of the input [[fuel]] into useful work. In other words, large quantities of coal (or wood) had to be burned to yield a small fraction of work output; the need for a new science of engine [[dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]] was born.

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