The Analytical Mechanics of Lagrange

Abstract

The fundamental concepts and principles of mechanics, or dynamics, were established in the 17th century. Copernicus gave the notion of reference system in 1543, and Galileo stated the principle of inertia in 1638 in his important work Discorsi e dimostrazioni mathematiche intorno a due nove scienze alla meccanica ed i movimenti locali.₁ A particle on which no force is exerted has a constant velocity. Linear uniform motion is a state relative to the observer, and not a process. It is the variation of the velocity that is a process resulting from an external action. Many scientists participated in this evolution, such as Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Descartes, and Christiaan Huygens, to name a few.

In the beginning there was the Action. Johann Wolfgang Goethe