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minus-square58008@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up16·1 month agoCan someone ELI5 why pre-Newton mathematics wasn’t up to the task?
minus-squaremagiccupcake@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up41·1 month agoNewton’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.
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.