Abstract
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Newton’s laws of motion and his law of gravity, as he had stated them, became the basis for the creation of a vast mathematical superstructure that changed Newtonian mechanics from a set of simple equations that had been designed to analyze and follow the motion of a single particle acted on by a well-defined force to a sophisticated complex of partial differential equations designed to study the interactions and motions of many particles. It is unnecessary to present these equations here in all their forbidding formalism to see their significance and understand their importance in the development of physics in the post-Newtonian era; a brief survey emphasizing the highlights will suffice. Such mathematicians and theoretical physicists as Maupertius, Lagrange, Euler, Laplace, D’Alembert, Poisson, Hamilton, Gauss, and Jacobi were associated with these developments, but since presenting their individual contributions would take us too far afield, we consider here the product of their combined efforts.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
The concepts initially formed by abstraction from particular situations or experimental complexes acquire a life of their own.
—Werner Heisenberg
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Lloyd Motz and Jefferson Hane Weaver
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Motz, L., Weaver, J.H. (1989). The Post-Newtonian Era. In: The Story of Physics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6305-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6305-5_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-43076-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-6305-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive