A History of the Mathematical Theories of Attraction and the Figure of the Earth
From the Time of Newton to that of Laplace

Published in 1874, this two-volume work traces an important branch of astronomy from Newton through to Laplace.

Isaac Todhunter (Author)

9781108084574, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 April 2015

518 pages
21.7 x 14 x 3.2 cm, 0.7 kg

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 1 traces developments from Newton up to 1780, including coverage of the work of Maupertuis, Clairaut and d'Alembert.

Preface
1. Newton
2. Huygens
3. Miscellaneous investigations up to the year 1720
4. Maupertuis
5. Stirling
6. Clairaut
7. Arc of the meridian measured in Lapland
8. Miscellaneous investigations between the years 1721 and 1740
9. Maclaurin
10. Thomas Simpson
11. Clairaut
12. Arc of the meridian measured in Peru
13. D'Alembert
14. Boscovich and Stay
15. Miscellaneous investigations between the years 1741 and 1760
16. D'Alembert
17. Frisi
18. Miscellaneous investigations between the years 1761 and 1780.

Subject Areas: History of mathematics [PBX]