⏰ when
When was gravity first explained by a scientific law of universal attraction?
Quick Answer
In 1687, Isaac Newton published the law of universal gravitation in Principia Mathematica. It was the first widely accepted mathematical theory of gravity.
The Full Story
Isaac Newton published the law of universal gravitation in 1687 in Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The law stated that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This was the first widely accepted mathematical description of gravity. Newton’s theory dominated physics until Einstein’s general relativity in 1915.
Key Facts
1.Published in 1687
2.Newton’s law used the inverse-square relationship
3.It was superseded by general relativity in 1915
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"Gravity became a mathematical law long before Einstein reshaped it."
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