Isaac Newton's famous quote, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants," is a metaphor to the way that scientific progress is built upon the scientific accomplishments of those who came before. While Newton maintains his role as one of the founders of modern physics, the quote acknowledges that his own groundbreaking discoveries in physics and mathematics were only made possible by the contributions of his predecessors. It was the relationships between the scientific research of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo that led to the development of Newton’s most renowned achievements. Nicholas Copernicus, a figure leading to the advancement of Newton’s discoveries, propounded the heliocentric theory and published his findings …show more content…
Galileo, having conversed with Kepler, was inspired to develop his own theories of nature built on the heliocentric theory. Initiated by the astronomical discoveries of these two scientists, Galileo mapped the moons of Jupiter and identified sunspots. He used the orbit of Jupiter's moons around Jupiter to prove the orbital relationships of other celestial objects. As such, Galileo studied motions and developed formulas for inertia and parabolic trajectories. Had Galileo not set the climate for a new understanding of forces and motion, Newton would not have been able to explore his works to develop the current theories for …show more content…
By establishing that gravity, introduced by Galileo, played a role in the orbital understandings of Kepler, Newton also presented the law of universal gravitation in application to these three universal laws of motion in his 1687 publication. Newton’s development of his law of gravity corroborated Kepler’s theory of elliptical orbits and propelled a new method in the research of physics. Newton himself wrote the sentiment that, “To the same natural effects, we must, as far as possible, assign the same causes.” The findings of Newton prompted physics research to focus on patterns in the natural world that are universally