The Principia

When you think you're beginning to comprehend how the world around you actually works. Then you discover how is really does according to one of the greatest minds in all of human history. Sir Isaac Newton in his own word.

The Principia has been one of the most widely-recognized and well-respected texts on how to think for nearly six centuries and counting. In this book which may appear deceptively similar to any modern mathematics class on how to build nearly any theorem from axioms and natural observations (which is exactly what Newton describes to be on the inside of his own mind), practically every aspect of natural philosophy is covered somewhere, from the mechanics of how a cannon-ball fired off the edge of the universe may lead to the eventual discovery of quantum particles, provided one removes the cannon and replaces it with a net before the cannon-ball's inertia runs out, or brings it full circle, whichever may happen first owing to any available quantity of saltpeter required during the initial launch, to the likelihood of any earth-like planet turning into a star when a cannon melts explosively into a vaguely-cannon-shaped glob of plasma which has no moment of inertia except towards a much tighter orbit towards any such planet's core, provided the celestial body not specifically under observation at the first event time can and will be observed regularly during flight after the initial burst of illumination fades sufficiently to observed any reflected light through it.Rumor has it that Isaac Newton invented gravity (and calculus), which may eventually prove true should there ever be a sufficiently convincing enough body of evidences that Newton didn't invent practically everything else in the entire universe while he was at it. A somewhat more skeptical jury may have to settle on the possibility of Newton hanging only those without enough ink and paper to write down anything important enough for somebody else to claim that Newton hadn't already heard all of it before and probably should stop working long enough to listen for a few lifetimes. The Principia suggests Newton never really got around to doing the later, however, as he was little too busy doing all of God's thinking instead (and who can really blame him for failing to point out the obvious - God was a little to busy creating everything to put in an appearance, and had already hired the Inquisition by then to ask why anybody would ever believe in God instead of the Inquisition anyway).In a more infectious era of mass communication, where -any- consistency of function across -any- mathematical domain is a novel idea and any proof of anything widely enough available that somebody or another will get around to writing the equivalency down in a blog or a spam broadcast eventually, Newton remains one of the geniuses who could still be considered sane by an authoritative member of an unknown extraterrestrial species replicating his own observations on Earth, although language barriers and translation may still be of obvious consideration. If you're not the sort of person who actually approves of algebra, however, you may approve of the English-language version's similarity to the Kama Sutra if you're the sort of person who doesn't like listening (and reading) carefully. In sum, Newton's Principia is yet another offering in the library of books with which to smite your own mind into cosmic dust if you enjoy Natural Philosophy and don't always mind being incorrect regarding what others simply must talk with themselves about, and an excellent demonstration of the diverse and sundry principles of business and marketing, still useful today, if you don't.

The Principia By Sir Isaac N. is considered one of the most important works in the history of science.In this work, Newton shed light on the hitherto mysteries of math & physics with clear cut hypotheses.In this bargain publishing edition, it has illustrations and diagrams that make Newton's explanations understandable.It is truly a milestone and a supreme expression of his genius. No wonder that it has remained a classic in science publishing.

I like it because it gives me an insight into newton's scientific mind.It describes newton's law of motion and his thought about fluid dynamics in his time and his observation of the star in the sky

This is a solid translation, though the diagrams should have been enlarged for easier viewing on the Kindle. Recommended to anyone who is interested in both the history of classical physics as well as the birth of calculus.

This book was the birthday gift to a younger member of our family who's very interested in both science and history. This is an outstanding document of the development of science!

This is a textbook for advanced physics study. Very little explanation of principles. Not what I expected.

It's great to have a copy of Principia in my sweaty little fists. You don't have to read the whole thing. Just dabble, and get a sense of Newton unfiltered through textbook authorities dully distilling the original pioneering into old hat. Also use Google Books to sample the works of the other greats.BTW, "On the Shoulders of Giants" is just the name of a series with introductions by Stephen Hawking. The book is still purely Newton's Principia. It's in English, from the original Latin. There have been several translations to English. A weakness of this edition is that it does not make explicit which of the first three editions of Principia or which of the later translations to English this translation is based on.