A History of the Mathematical Theories of Attraction and the Figure of the Earth: From the Time of Newton to That of Laplace (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781108084581)

Newton's Principia paints a picture of the earth as a spinning, gravitating ball. However, the earth is not completely rigid and the interplay of forces will modify its shape in subtle ways. Newton predicted a flattening at the poles, yet others disagreed. Plenty of books have described the expeditions which sought to measure the shape of the earth, but very little has appeared on the mathematics of a problem, which remains of enduring interest even in an age of satellites. Published in 1874, this two-volume work by Isaac Todhunter (1820-84), perhaps the greatest Victorian historian of mathematics, takes the mathematical story from Newton, through the expeditions which settled the matter in Newton's favour, to the investigations of Laplace which opened a new era in mathematical physics. Volume 2 is largely devoted to the work of Laplace, tracing developments up to 1825.

Author: Isaac Todhunter
ISBN-10: 1108084583
ISBN-13: 9781108084581
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/02/2015
Pages: 518
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.43lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 1.15d