Newton's Principia conference, 11-13 December
'A great
variety of admirable discoverys': Newton's Principia in the Age of
Enlightenment
Wednesday
11 December – Friday 13 December 2013
The Royal
Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London
Full
programme and registration available at http://royalsociety.org/events/2013/newtons-principia/
This
conference commemorates the 300th anniversary of the second edition of Isaac
Newton's Principia Mathematica (1713), one of the key texts in the
history of science. This was no hasty redrafting of the first edition (1687),
but a substantially rewritten volume that provided firmer evidence for Newton’s
claims about tides, cometary orbits, lunar motion and universal gravitation. Newton
brought together new experimental and astronomical findings and, assisted by
editor Roger Cotes, improved his analysis of orbital dynamics in response to
previous criticism.
The work
was central to bolstering Newton's defence of his research at a crucial time in
his priority dispute with Leibniz over the invention of calculus. It also
contained the famous 'General Scholium', in which Newton revealed his belief in
a God who was to be revered on account of his dominion, with the ultimate goal
of natural philosophy being a proof of the attributes of God - views
subsequently attacked by Leibniz.
The
conference also marks the tercentenary of the Commercium Epistolicum, a
collection of texts arranged by Newton in relation to the calculus dispute. As
Royal Society President, Newton gathered together an international committee to
decide whether Leibniz had been wrongly accused of plagiarising the calculus
from Newton’s writings. This compliant committee, presented with a wide range
of evidence gathered by Newton from his own writings and from the holdings of
the Society, decided against Leibniz's appeal for redress.
Finally,
the conference will celebrate the completion by the Newton Project of the
transcription and publication of all of Newton's religious writings, along with
most of his scientific and mathematical work.
Please
direct any queries about this conference to library@royalsociety.org.
Dr Felicity Henderson
Lecturer in Archives and Material Culture
University of Exeter
Queen’s Building, Queen’s Drive
Exeter EX4 4QH