The story of how the idea of gravity occurred to Newton in the literal sense of the word is known even to those who do not know the details of his research. We checked what role the apple actually played in this.
Researchers Bernard Cohen of Harvard University and George Smith from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology They thinkthat the story of how Newton came to the theory of gravity thanks to the fallen apple is what is wider than all of all about the great scientist. The correct sign is how popular the story is numerous references in mass culture. The fall of the apple on Newton's head was shown in Firecase The Newton’s Apple educational program, which was broadcast on American television in 1983-1998. Newton sitting under the apple tree was depicted on The first logo Apple.
In 1666, the plague raged in England. Cambridge was suspended, and Newton decided to return to his home in the county of Lincolnshir. Despite the crossing, the scientist continued to work on the problems that engaged him at the university. From Newton's notes, we know that at that time one of these riddles was the power of earthly attraction, although it is his famous law Formulated Almost 20 years later.
The story of the apple is given by John Conduitt - a relative of Newton, who worked with him at the royal mint. In memoirs about a scientist compiled around 1727, Konduitt Writes: “During a walk in the garden [in Lincolnshire in 1666], it occurred to him that the force of gravity (which lowered the apple from a tree to the ground) is not limited to a certain distance from the ground and should spread much further. "Why not to the moon?" He thought, and, if everything is so, it should affect her movement and probably hold her in orbit. After that, Newton lay down and began to conduct calculations. ”
Antikvar and archaeologist William Styukli Remembering A meeting with Newton in April 1726 in Kensington: “We went to the garden and drank tea in the shade of apple trees, only he and I. In the middle of the conversation, he said that he was in exactly the same situation when the concept of gravity occurred to him. ” Newton further spoke about his thoughts about why the apple falls perpendicular to the earth, and not aside or up, and the conclusion made: "The reason is that the earth attracts it ... and, if matter attracts matter, it should be proportional to its quantity. So, the apple also attracts the earth, as the Earth attracts the apple."
In 1727, the French thinker Voltaire, who then lived in England, led the story of the apple. In his essay, he Writes: "Sir Isaac Newton, walking around the garden, first thought about his gravity system when he saw an apple that fell from a tree." It is believed that this story to Voltaire told Katherine Barton, niece of Newton.
As can be seen from the evidence of contemporaries, they began to talk about the “inspiring” apple several decades after Newton began to work on his theory. Apparently, this joke was invented by the scientist himself, slightly changing the details from the conversation to the conversation and honing the harmony and logic of history. Nevertheless, in none of the versions recorded during the life of Newton, the apple does not fall on his head.
History began to transform after Newton's death in 1727. After 30 years, the mathematician Leonard Ayler corresponded with the German princess Frederica-Sharlota, explaining in each of his letters various physical concepts and phenomena. IN EpistlesDedicated to gravity, Auler tells how Newton "once lay under an apple tree, and the apple fell on his head, which prompted him to think." Already at the end of the 18th century, Isaac Dizraeli, the writer and father of the future British Prime Minister Benjamin Dizraeli, wrote In one of his essays: “When Newton reads under the apple tree, the fruit fell and hit it on the head. Paying attention to the small size of the apple, he was surprised at the power of the blow. This led him to reflect on the acceleration of falling bodies. "
Most of the lie
- http://wwww.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/
- https://www.cambridge.org/en/academic/subjects/philosophy/early-modern-philosophy/cambridge-newton-newton-2nd-et al
- http://ttp.royalsociety.org/ttp/ttp.html?id=1807DA00-909A-4ABF-B9C1-0279A08E4BF2
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