
Math's Paths [rebroadcast]
Big Picture Science
00:00
Newton's Mathematical Principles - The Falling Apple
The popular story here is that Newton developed gravity and the need for calculus because he witnessed the falling apple. He was really trying to explain the motions of the planets and the comets, not fruit. It could have just been a device to make people stop bugging him. But it's plausible that he was thinking about objects dropping to the ground like apples falling from a tree.
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