Abstract
Newton’s analysis of the propagating pressure wave (applicable both to sound and to light) appeared in his Principia of 1687 and, with an unfortunate change in the order of presentation, in the later editions of 1713 and 1726. It is here that we find the first use of the momentum law applied to an element of a continuous body. We will begin with a detailed discussion of Prop, XLVII of Book II (which in the second and third editions becomes Prop. XLVIII), following Motte’s translation1 of 1729. In section 2.2 we will remark on Cotes’ introduction of the change in the order of presentation and on some of the confusions that resulted.
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© 1981 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Cannon, J.T., Dostrovsky, S. (1981). Newton (1687). In: The Evolution of Dynamics: Vibration Theory from 1687 to 1742. Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, vol 6. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9461-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9461-7_2
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-9463-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-9461-7
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