Abstract

This is an excellent short selection whose aim is to illustrate the guiding principles of Newton’s natural philosophy. It is divided into four sections, namely the method of natural philosophy, its principles, its relations with natural theology, and finally some typical examples of the problem it studies. Many of the passages chosen are from letters or other relatively inaccessible works. By means of clever editing, a unity and coherence is achieved which almost makes this little book a new treatise. It gives those who are unfamiliar with the actual writings of Newton a chance to study his system at first-hand, thus gaining an insight into the towering intellectual structure called “Newtonian physics”, a structure which dominated not only the science, but also to some extent the philosophy, of two centuries.