Abstract
The prize topic proposed by the Royal Academy of Sciences for 1740 was the tides: le Flux et Reflux de la Mer. The winners, in the order in which their essays were published by the Academy, were Father Antoine Cavalleri [23], Daniel Bernoulli [12], Colin MacLaurin [68] and Leonhard Euler [38]. Cavelleri’s work was based on the Cartesian idea of vortices;47 the other three were founded on Newtonian principles and were subsequently reproduced in the “Jesuit Edition” of the Principia (1739–1742) [86] as illustrations of the Newtonian philosophy. Newton had already discussed in its earlier editions the tidal forces on the Earth which resulted from the gravitational attraction of the Sun and of the Moon; his work was of course the starting point for MacLaurin’s investigations.
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© 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited
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(2007). Introduction to Part III. In: MacLaurin’s Physical Dissertations. Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-776-3_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-776-3_6
Publisher Name: Springer, London
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