Magnificent Principia

June 10, 2013
Pask (Mathematics for the Frightened) offers an insightful and expansive look into Isaac Newton’s complex and illuminating 1687 publication on classical mechanics, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, aka the Principia. The emeritus math professor (at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia) begins with a review of Newton’s life and the 17th-century science scene. Copernicus’s heliocentric theory and Galileo’s observations had recently overturned ancient Greek and Islamic cosmological models that posited Earth as “the center of the universe,” and Kepler’s laws of planetary motion demonstrated that the planets moved in ellipses, not perfect circles. Newton drew on the work of his predecessors and contemporaries, as well as his own experimentation and brilliant intuitions, and after years of secretive work, the intense, enigmatic, and mercurial thinker reluctantly published the Principia at the urging of astronomer and fellow Royal Society member Edmond Halley, who also funded its printing. Newton wrote very much in the style of the ancient Greeks to explain how gravity affects motion on Earth and in the heavens while simultaneously defining the differential calculus that would become an invaluable tool for the centuries of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians that would follow. Breaking the Principia down into easily digestible portions and suffusing his narrative with modern insights, Pask reveals the genius that built modern physics.

August 1, 2013

Isaac Newton's Principia (1687)--fully titled Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica--is widely considered the single most influential book describing the natural and mechanical basis for the physical sciences and mathematics, but how accessible is it today? Pask (matheamatics, emeritus, Univ. of New South Wales; Math for the Frightened: Facing Scary Symbols and Everything Else That Freaks You Out About Mathematics) has broken down the concepts, historical background, and key components of the Principia into one accessible volume. It serves as a rough guide to the work and succinctly explains each concept, and rationale, with references at the end of each section for those wishing to delve more deeply. Pask successfully takes the reader into Newton's thought process, pointing out areas of debate and discussion as well as weaknesses in the work and technical details (the casual reader may want to skip over those). VERDICT A summary of this type is overdue, as previous works are dated and less accessible. Niccolo Guicciardini's Reading the Principia and I. Bernard Cohen's guide to the Principia, preceding his and Anne Whitman's translation, accomplish the same goals but with less elegance and simplicity. Highly recommended for all science and mathematics enthusiasts, instructors, and readers.--Elizabeth A. Brown, Binghamton Univ. Libs., NY

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