Revisiting the mathematical synthesis of the laws of Kepler and Galileo leading to Newton's law of universal gravitation

摘要

Newton's deduction of the inverse square law from Kepler's ellipse and arealaws together with his "superb theorem" on the gravitation attraction ofspherically symmetric bodies, are the major steps leading to the discovery ofthe law of universal gravitation (Principia, 1687). The goal of this article isto revisit some "well-known" events in the history of science, and moreover, toprovide elementary and clean-cut proofs, still in the spirit of Newton, ofthese major advances. Being accessible to first year university students, theeducational aspect of such a coherent presentation should not be overlooked.