Isaac Newton lived during the scientific revolution of the 17th century. While men like Kepler, Galileo, and Descartes had shaped a new view of nature, Newton organized and expanded all the scientific knowledge available at the time. Galileo died the year Newton was born. Galileo had already established: the sun was at the center of the universe, other planets had moons (Jupiter), and the sun was not 100% luminous as spots were evident. GalileoÆs universe model was heliocentric like CopernicusÆ model before him.
Johannes KeplerÆs work was based on the work of Tycho Brahe. KeplerÆs ideas were revolutionary. He believed the planets traveled in an elliptical or oval pattern. Kepler devised three laws that provide the first kinematic description of orbits: (1) The law of elliptical orbits, (2) The law of equal areas; and, (3) The law of harmonics:
Law 1: Planets move in an elliptical orbit with the sun at once focus,
Law 2: A line connecting the sun and a planet (radius vector) sweeps out equal areas in equal times; and,
Law 3: The square of a planetÆs orbital period is proportional to its mean distance from the sun cubed.
Newton believed like others before him that the universe was heliocentric. He expanded on GalileoÆs work to provide a better explanation for the relationship between energy and motion. Where Kepler developed a kinematic description of orbits, Newton would refine KeplerÆs theories and develop a dynamic description that involved gravity as the underlying influence. It is Newton who provided a link between KeplerÆs laws and the physical world. He also incorporated GalileoÆs views, ôIt is evident that Newtonian dynamica, in explaining motion with forces, subsumes Galilean descriptive kinematicaö (God, 257). In so doing, he changed the way we see and understand the world. NewtonÆs philosophy of religion and God were part of his theory known
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