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347 BCE
Aristotle: weight affects a falling object
A heavier object would reach the ground faster than a lighter one dropped at the same time from the same height -
Period: 1540 to 1543
Nicolaus Copernicus publishes his sun-centered model of the universe
Aristotle theorized that the sun, the moon and the planets all revolved around Earth on a set of celestial spheres.
Whereas Copernicus proposed that the planets of the solar system revolved around the sun, not Earth. -
Period: to
Gallileo: freely falling objects experience uniform acceration regardless of mass
The conculsion of Gallileo's experiments were that freely falling objects experience uniform acceration regardless of mass, as long as extraneous forces, such as air resistance and friction can be minimized. -
Decartes' first law
"each thing, as far as in its power, always remains in the same state; and that constently when it is once moved, it always continues to move." -
Decartes' second law (=Newton's first law later in 1687)
The second law sates that "all movement is, of itself, along straight lines". This is also Newton's first law -
Newton: "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"
He explained in his three laws why the orbits of the planets are ellipes rather than circles
He ended up explaining much more in his Principia -
Period: to
Newton's laws are replaced by quantum mechanics and relativity
quantum mechanics and relativity reduce Newton's laws for larger bodies or for bodies moving more slowly