WRONG
Newton did NOT discover gravity.
1100 years before Newton was born, Varāhamihira said "the earth remains suspended in the sky by a force, just like a piece of Iron is held in the grip of a magnet"
Ancient Indians called this force "Gurutvākarṣaṇam" (गुरुत्वाकर्षणम्)
Newton did NOT discover gravity.
1100 years before Newton was born, Varāhamihira said "the earth remains suspended in the sky by a force, just like a piece of Iron is held in the grip of a magnet"
Ancient Indians called this force "Gurutvākarṣaṇam" (गुरुत्वाकर्षणम्)
Source of the quote: Indian Journal of History of Science (1975).
It must be noted that Varahamihira was only paraphrasing Aryabhata.
Newton himself did not claim that he discovered gravity. He actually said "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"
It must be noted that Varahamihira was only paraphrasing Aryabhata.
Newton himself did not claim that he discovered gravity. He actually said "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"
The concept of gravity was known to Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Brahmagupta and many others long before Newton was born.
What goes exclusively to the credit of Newton is his discovery of the law of universal gravitation. This was not known before the time of Newton
What goes exclusively to the credit of Newton is his discovery of the law of universal gravitation. This was not known before the time of Newton
Before 17th century, concept of gravity was known.
But nobody formulated that gravitational force between two objects is ∝ to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to square of the distance between them. This was developed by Newton & others in 17th century!
But nobody formulated that gravitational force between two objects is ∝ to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to square of the distance between them. This was developed by Newton & others in 17th century!
Interestingly, the Latin word "Gravis" meaning heavy (whence the "Gravitational force") is etymologically cognate to the Sanskrit word गुरु ("Guru") meaning "heavy"(whence also the गुरुत्वाकर्षणम् (Gurutvakarshanam)) according to linguistics. Also related is the English "Grave"
Indian Mathematician Brahmagupta (c.628 CE), who was also aware of a preliminary concept of gravity, stated:
"All heavy things fall down to earth by a law of nature. It is the nature of the earth to attract things. Thrown object always returns. Earth on all its sides is same"
"All heavy things fall down to earth by a law of nature. It is the nature of the earth to attract things. Thrown object always returns. Earth on all its sides is same"
Brahmagupta lived in 7th century CE. His contemporaries in Christian Europe declared Earth was flat. Many thinkers who disagreed with Biblical ideas were persecuted. In this context, Brahmagupta was far more advanced than them and his nascent ideas were remarkable for his time
