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Colin Pask
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Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition

by Colin Pask (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 58 ratings
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Will help you appreciate and understand the significance of Isaac Newton's masterpiece--what many regard as the greatest scientific contribution of all time.Despite its dazzling reputation, Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, or simply the Principia, remains a mystery for many people. Few of even the most intellectually curious readers, including professional scientists and mathematicians, have actually looked in the Principia or appreciated its contents.Mathematician Colin Pask seeks to remedy this deficit with this accessible guided tour through Newton's masterpiece. Using the final edition of the Principia, Pask clearly demonstrates how it sets out Newton's (and now our) approach to science, how the framework of classical mechanics is established, how terrestrial phenomena like the tides and projectile motion are explained, and how we can understand the dynamics of the solar system and the paths of comets. He also includes scene-setting chapters about Newton himself and scientific developments in his time, as well as chapters about the reception and influence of the Principia up to the present day.Now in paperback with a new preface, this lucidly written work makes Newton's landmark achievement comprehensible to lay readers.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-1616147457
  2. Edition
    Illustrated
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Prometheus
  5. Publication date
    April 16, 2019
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    12277 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pask (Mathematics for the Frightened) offers an insightful and expansive look into Isaac Newton's complex and illuminating 1687 publication on classical mechanics, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, aka the Principia. The emeritus math professor (at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia) begins with a review of Newton's life and the 17th-century science scene. Copernicus's heliocentric theory and Galileo's observations had recently overturned ancient Greek and Islamic cosmological models that posited Earth as the center of the universe, and Kepler's laws of planetary motion demonstrated that the planets moved in ellipses, not perfect circles. Newton drew on the work of his predecessors and contemporaries, as well as his own experimentation and brilliant intuitions, and after years of secretive work, the intense, enigmatic, and mercurial thinker reluctantly published the Principia at the urging of astronomer and fellow Royal Society member Edmond Halley, who also funded its printing. Newton wrote very much in the style of the ancient Greeks to explain how gravity affects motion on Earth and in the heavens while simultaneously defining the differential calculus that would become an invaluable tool for the centuries of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians that would follow. Breaking the Principia down into easily digestible portions and suffusing his narrative with modern insights, Pask reveals the genius that built modern physics. (Aug.)

Review

“An insightful and expansive look into Isaac Newton’s complex and illuminating 1687 publication on classical mechanics... Breaking the Principia down into easily digestible portions and suffusing his narrative with modern insights, Pask reveals the genius that built modern physics.”
—Publishers Weekly

“I believe the two most important works in our journey to understand how the natural world works are Darwin’s Origins and Newton’s Principia. But while Darwin can be read by the nonspecialist, a contemporary reader will usually struggle with Newton’s unfamiliar mathematical notation. Pask’s splendid book is greatly to be welcomed, making the power and elegance of the Principia accessible to the general reader. It is particularly good at clarifying the Scientific Revolution’s combination of thoughtful experiments and analytic thinking, showing mathematics as nothing more—but also nothing less—than a way of thinking clearly.”
 
—Professor Robert M. May, Baron of Oxford, OM, AC, Fellow of the Royal Society

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07L7SB1MW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prometheus; Illustrated edition (April 16, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 16, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 12277 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1616147458
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 58 ratings

About the author

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Colin Pask

Colin Pask

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Colin Pask - A Little Personal History

I was born in Great Gonerby, a little village just outside the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, England. My father was a dairy farmer and I grew up interested in the countryside and farming (but there was already an older brother to take over the farming business!) At age 11 I started at the King's School in Grantham following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton, who was born (rather earlier) in the village of Woolsthorpe, also just outside Grantham.

I had developed a great interest in natural history and especially ornithology, an interest that remains strong today, and probably I should have had a career in biology. However, little biology, especially at the higher levels, was done at the King's School presumably because it was a boys school! On the other hand the grammar school for girls had more biology and less physics. (That school too has had its notable pupils: Margaret Thatcher and more importantly Johanna, who became my wife.)

So my final years at school were devoted to studying Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Physics, plus German and and other odd bits and pieces. Then it was off to the University of London where I entered Queen Mary College's physics program with an emphasis on theoretical physics and mathematics.

I then decided to come to Australia! People at Queen Mary College said I was insane - nobody goes to Australia. However, they relented when I told them I was coming to work with Professor John M. Blatt. (His 1952 book with Victor Weisskopf, "Theoretical Nuclear Physics" was the bible in that subject and was even reprinted in 1979, and he was also famous for work on superconductivity.) So it was that Johanna and I sailed for Australia late in 1964.

I gained my PhD from the University of New South Wales and after a brief time at Duke University I became a lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics at UNSW. Some of my first lectures were in numerical analysis, classical dynamics and fortran programming. We loved the life in Sydney and our children Melanie and Daniel were born there.

In 1971 I took up a Queen Elizabeth Fellowship in the just established Department of Applied Mathematics in the Research School of Physical Sciences at ANU. I stayed on there in the Institute of Advanced Studies as a Fellow and progressed to Senior Fellow in 1978. My research interests developed in optics and vision (into biology at last!), especially in waveguide theory and fibre optics, with various offshoots into coherence theory and things like numerical analysis and nonlinear classical dynamics. The whole family enjoyed a stay in Germany while I was on leave to work on insect vision at the Max Planck Institute in Tubingen.

Also during that time the family completed undergraduate degrees: Johanna - honours in Prehistory and Geography, Melanie - Education, primary school teaching, Daniel - Communications-Journalism. I got to proof-read a lot of very interesting essays!

In 1986 I became Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics (later the School of Mathematics and Statistics) in University College, that part of the University of New South Wales in the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. So once again I work for UNSW and get to interact with undergraduate students, which I greatly enjoy after spending so (too?) long in a purely research environment. In 2000 I became Presiding Member of the University College Academic Board. The Head or Dean of the whole University College is called the Rector and I also did a stint as Deputy Rector.

I have now published over 140 research papers in international journals in physics, biology, optical engineering and mathematics. I have enjoyed giving lectures on many topics, ranging from introductory mathematics for first year undergraduate students to specialist lectures to selected international post-doctoral students at a NATO Summer School. Supervising many post-graduate students has been a great pleasure.

I gave up being Head of School after 12 years to concentrate more on some things Professors like to do - research, teach and write. Who knows, I may even get to play more croquet, a game Johanna and I took up a few years ago. (And which involves lots of challenging classical dynamics!) Also a few years ago we moved from our family home in Canberra to build a smaller house on the edge of the bush adjoining Queanbeyan so once again I can enjoy natural surroundings every day. Daniel lives in Canberra. Melanie, husband Peter and daughters Aysha and Mia live in Sydney. We share our house with a cocker spaniel and our bushland with a little mob of kangaroos, a wombat or two, several possums, many kinds of birds, numerous lizards and the occasional brown snake.

I "retired" at the end of 2007 so now I can work on just the things I want to do, like writing some books!

work address: School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences

University of New South Wales @ ADFA

Australian Defence Force Academy

Canberra, ACT 2601

email: c.pask@adfa.edu.au

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
58 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Zaid Al-Shayeb
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2023
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A. Menon
4.0 out of 5 stars Unique look into one of the most (the most!) important works in science
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2015
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Newton's Principia is arguably the most important work in the history of science and yet it remains a largely impenetrable book. Colin Park sets himself the task of making clear the contents of the third edition to the interested reader. The book is a mixture of high level framing of what the contents of the principia contains as well as mathematical arguments that support the theorems embedded in the book. The author often compares modern solution techniques to Newton's solutions and highlights where the similarities lie, though most of the forms of argument are quite different and in particular Newton uses geometric arguments vs today's proofs are largely analytical in nature.

Magnificent Principia is split into 7 Parts. The author gives a few brief notes on Newton the man, his personal and family history before jumping into the contents of the book. The author focuses on the third edition which is far more comprehensive than the first edition and is done with more reflection and editing. The author describes Newton's Laws and discusses the way science was published at the time and the writing forms of contemporaries like Galileo and Huygens. The author highlights the need for mathematics to frame the theory and how the narrative theory of Descartes at the time was seen as totally lacking by Newton. The author then moves on to discuss the fundamental leap that Newton made by moving from kinematics to dynamics. He discusses the inverse square law and the geometric arguments Newton used to show the truth of Kepler's laws. The author also highlights the solutions of single body force problems and the geometric vector based approaches Newton used. He also shows modern solution techniques and how embedded in the geometric arguments are integration arguments. I would say the descriptions of Newton's proofs are not as clear as they could be, if you read Bressoud's "Second year calculus" UTM book, the Newton proofs are more succinct and more clear; as well modern proofs are pretty average as well and are clearer in physics textbooks. The author then moves on to Newton discussing constrained motion and linear forces like the pendulum and harmonic oscillator. The author discusses Newton's solution for the mechanism required to keep perfect time, which is not particularly clear I don't think. The author also discusses how Newton moves from point particles to spherically symmetric material bodies. The author then discusses the second book where Newton tackles things like friction dissipative forces. These are pretty remarkable calculations and analysis made by Newton and are rarely focused on by the physics student given more comprehensive analysis were done after more math was developed. The author conveys to the reader how remarkable Newton's ability to analyze and solve pretty much any problem he was faced with was. The author then moves on to book 3 where Newton outlines his law of gravitation. As with the second book the author shows the remarkable ability of Newton to use his three laws to deduce a wide variety of real world phenomenon including the tides and the bulging of the Earth around the equator. The author discusses how the various planet and moon orbits can be explained by the law and documents the calculations. It is pretty mind blowing that so much amazing insight was in the mind of one man.

Magnificent Principia brings one of the most remarkable books in science (in my opinion, the most) to the interested reader. The original is not something I am capable of reading so this book was very helpful for me. My criticisms all are around the math side as I found his description of Newton's proofs unclear and convoluted. I could put it down to the ideas of Newton being hard to translate, but having read another book on the proofs of Newton I know the author could have been more clear and succinct. I also am unimpressed with the modern mathematical treatment of the subject and find it much clearer in a host of other books. The book does shine when discussing the results of Newton in books II and III. As well, the value of now knowing the organization and flow of the original is enormous. Definitely worth a read but if one is interested in the math and physics primarily, look elsewhere.
16 people found this helpful
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Stephen E. Kennedy
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2014
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This is outstanding. I have really enjoyed reading through the principia with Colin Pask guidance and insights. It is the first time I have really appreciated the difference between kinematics (Galileo and Kepler) and dynamics (Newton). I am only 125 pages in, but this is a good read if you want to deeper understanding of Newton's true insight.
7 people found this helpful
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B. Gatton
5.0 out of 5 stars Read this now
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2021
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Fantastic book
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R. White
4.0 out of 5 stars Mathematical presentations are helpful (and necessary). Graphics are decent.
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2022
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A respectable presentation of Newton's monumental works, which have survived the test of time and are only slightly diminished in popularity and stature by modern pursuits in quantum physics. Of two back cover endorsements, one compares Newton's Principia to Darwin's Origin of Species, which is puzzling since Darwin's Tree of Life and presumptive macro-evolution have been dismissed by modern science: Undeniable ('Darwinism is retiring', Axe), Darwin's Doubt (Meyer), Darwin Devolves (Behe), Genetic Entropy (Sanford), Zombie Science (Wells), Silencing the Skeptics (Bergman), Signature in the Cell (Meyer), Contested Bones (Rupe and Sanford), Evolution's Achilles' Heels (CMI), and others. Newton's Principia, however, lives on in relevance.
3 people found this helpful
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Thomas Tamburro
5.0 out of 5 stars A compassionate work for the curious reader with little background in science and math.
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2014
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Newton himself would be pleased with this effort to lay out some of the most demanding and difficult ideas designed to explain how the world and the universe work. You will experience a detailed journey through the Principia, exploring the connections and implications generated by a lifetime of isolated and aggressive study.
5 people found this helpful
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Milo Tindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Hard Cover
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2019
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This is the best translated version.
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John McCowan
4.0 out of 5 stars A competent guide
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2014
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I read Newton's masterwork several years ago and was stunned and overwhelmed by the brainpower and colossal amount of detailed work it represented - to the extent of frequently losing the thread of the story it was revealing. This book is a great help in highlighting the logical path through Newton's labyrinth of exposition and detail whilst converting both the language and the mathematics into more familiar modern terms. This greatly enhances the appreciation of what Newton achieved and how he did it.

The purely technical content of the book is spiced with sufficient additional information about the man, his contemporaries and successors to provide a human interest factor as relief to its logical rigours without veering from its main purpose.

The comprehensive and explanatory references to the additional information available to those wishing to soak themselves even more thoroughly in appreciation of Newton's genius is another notable feature of the book.

It is not a book for the mathematically illiterate, but it is not intended to be and that is certainly not a shortcoming.

As befits such a massive subject, it's a pretty hard slog through, but the long tramp is well worth it.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Tomas
4.0 out of 5 stars Muito interessante a história
Reviewed in Brazil on May 26, 2023
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Não é um livro de fácil leitura para quem não é falante de inglês, o tema é meio pesado mas muito interessante. Da uma ideia muito boa do livro do Newton.
Ainda não terminei mas estou gostando
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Amazon customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars
Reviewed in Canada on November 22, 2014
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OK, its more a modern text in my opinion but I am no Physicist so.....!!!!!
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A Bruce
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2014
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Thank-you for a prompt deliver and a perfect item. My son is delighted with this book and we will certainly order again in the future.
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Leatherworker
5.0 out of 5 stars A good intro to Newton's thinking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2015
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Read this. A good intro to Newton's thinking ...
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