Newtonianism

Newtonianism is a doctrine that involves following the principles and using the methods of natural philosopher Isaac Newton. While Newton's influential contributions were primarily in physics and mathematics, his broad conception of the universe as being governed by rational and understandable laws laid the foundation for many strands of Enlightenment thought. Newtonianism became an enormously influential intellectual program that applied Newton's principles in many avenues of inquiry, laying the groundwork for modern science (both the natural and social sciences), in addition to influencing philosophy, political thought and theology.

In 1737 Francesco Algarotti, an Italian scientist essayist and member of the Royal Society popularised Newtonianism with his book "Newtonianism for ladies".^[1]

Newtonian doctrine can be contrasted with several alternative sets of principles and methods such as Cartesianism, Leibnizianism and Wolffianism.^[2]^[3]

As examples of his far-flung influence, David Hume, for one, was keen to make use of Newtonian experimental principles in the examination of moral subjects, while Colin Maclaurin wrote an MA thesis on the application of the calculus in morality. The religious philosophy Deism is strongly Newtonian.

Notes

^
^ The Discovery of the Conservation of Energy, Yehuda Elkana, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974; Introduction: Philosophical Background pp. 1-22
^

Isaac Newton

Publications	De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas (1669, published 1711) Method of Fluxions (1671) De motu corporum in gyrum (1684) Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) General Scholium (1713) Opticks (1704) The Queries (1704) Arithmetica Universalis (1707)

Other writings	Notes on the Jewish Temple Quaestiones quaedam philosophicae The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728) An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture (1754)

Newtonianism	Bucket argument Newton's inequalities Newton's law of cooling Newton's law of universal gravitation Post-Newtonian expansion Parameterized post-Newtonian formalism Newton–Cartan theory Schrödinger–Newton equation Gravitational constant Newton's laws of motion Newtonian dynamics Newton's method in optimization Gauss–Newton algorithm Truncated Newton method Newton's rings Newton's theorem about ovals Newton–Pepys problem Newtonian potential Newtonian fluid Classical mechanics Newtonian fluid Corpuscular theory of light Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy Rotating spheres Newton's cannonball Newton–Cotes formulas Newton's method Newton fractal Generalized Gauss–Newton method Newton's identities Newton polynomial Newton's theorem of revolving orbits Newton–Euler equations Newton number Kissing number problem Power number Solar mass Dynamics Absolute time and space Finite difference Table of Newtonian series Impact depth Structural coloration Inertia

Life	Cranbury Park Woolsthorpe Manor Early life of Isaac Newton Later life of Isaac Newton Religious views of Isaac Newton Isaac Newton's occult studies The Mysteryes of Nature and Art Scientific revolution Copernican Revolution

Friends & Family	Catherine Barton John Conduitt William Clarke Benjamin Pulleyn William Stukeley William Jones Isaac Barrow Abraham de Moivre John Keill

Discoveries and inventions	Calculus Newton disc Newton polygon Newton–Okounkov body Newton's reflector Newtonian telescope Newton scale Newton's metal Newton's cradle Sextant

Phrases	Hypotheses non fingo Standing on the shoulders of giants

Theory expansions	Kepler's laws of planetary motion Problem of Apollonius

Related	Writing of Principia Mathematica Newton (Blake) List of things named after Isaac Newton Isaac Newton in popular culture Elements of the Philosophy of Newton Isaac Newton S/O Philipose Newton (unit)

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Newtonianism

Newtonianism

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