Principia's publication in 1687 inspired a scientific revolution and laid the foundations of modern physics.
- Adam Perkins
As part of its 600th anniversary, the University Library has put on display some of its greatest treasures in the blockbuster exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World.
To celebrate the anniversary and the exhibition, which runs until September 30, 2016, the University Library has made a series of six short films, each examining one of the six key themes of Lines of Thought.
On the Shoulders of Giants – Understanding Gravity covers three centuries of development in human understanding of how and why gravity operates.
Beginning with Copernicus and a first-edition copy of his iconic De Revolutionibus, Understanding Gravity looks at his first formative ideas of a sun-centred (heliocentric) universe.
Adam Perkins, Curator of Scientific Manuscripts at the University Library, said: “It’s essential to have Copernicus’ idea to create what we know today about the solar system. But we also have on display other, later objects in the exhibition – such as Tyco Brahe’s De Nova Stella – which tried to keep the Earth at the centre of the solar system. However, Johannes Kepler, Brahe’s pupil, immediately rejected the ideas in De Nova Stella and went back to Copernicus’ sun-centred solar system.”
Watch the film and read the full story
Image: To celebrate Lines of Thought, Cambridge University Library commissioned a once-in-a-lifetime photo of Professor Stephen Hawking and Newton’s copy of Principia, shot in Professor Hawking’s office at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in Cambridge
Credit: Graham Copekoga
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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