Comment on Damn
58008@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Can someone ELI5 why pre-Newton mathematics wasn’t up to the task?
Newton’s laws, including gravity and motion, can be expressed in terms of differential equations.
Differential equations pretty much requires calculus, which just hadn’t been formalized yet.
Newton’s laws also provide convincing reasons for the necessity and legitimacy of calculus, by being able to derive orbits from his simple laws.
magiccupcake@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Newton’s laws, including gravity and motion, can be expressed in terms of differential equations.
Differential equations pretty much requires calculus, which just hadn’t been formalized yet.
Newton’s laws also provide convincing reasons for the necessity and legitimacy of calculus, by being able to derive orbits from his simple laws.