Newton's Principia for the common reader
Professor Chandrasekhar's work is an attempt by a distinguished practising scientist to read and comprehend the enormous intellectual achievement of the Principia without recourse to secondary sources. This text has stimulated great interest and debate among the scientific community, illuminating the brilliance of Newton's work under the gaze of Chandrasekhar's rare perception.
xix, 593 p. : il. ; 26 cm
9780198526759, 019852675X
639074908
Prologue ; 1. The beginnings and the writing of the Principia ; 2. Basic concepts: definition and axioms ; 3. On the notion of limits and the ratios of evanescent quantities ; 4. On the motion of particles under centripetal attraction: an introduction to Newton's treatment ; 5. The law of areas and some relations which follow ; 6. The motion of bodies along conic sections ; 7. Kepler's equation and its solution ; 8. The rectilinear ascent and descent of bodies ; 9. The conservation of energy and the initial value problem ; 10. On revolving orbits ; 11. A pause ; 12. The two-body problem ; 13. The method of the variations of the elements of a Kepler orbit and Newton's lunar theory: an introduction to propositions LXV-LXIX ; 14. The three body problem: the foundations of Newton's lunar theory ; 15. The superb theorems ; 16. Attraction by non-spherical bodies ; 17. A digression into Opticks ; 18. Prolegomenon ; 19. The universal law of gravitation ; 20. The figure of the earth and of the planets ; 21. On the theory of tides ; 22. The lunar theory ; 23. The precession of the equinoxes ; 24. On the comets ; 25. The effect of air-drag on the descent of bodies ; 26. The solid of least resistance ; 27. The problem of the brachistochrone ; 28. The velocity of sound and long waves in canals