Flying before gravity

[Rodgera]

Isaac Newton.jpg

[ian]

can't even get the date right

[rwbuild]

Newton's law of universal gravitation states that a particle attracts every other particle in the universe using a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.^{[note 1]} This is a general physical law derived from empirical observations by what Isaac Newton called induction.^[1] It is a part of classical mechanics and was formulated in Newton's work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("the Principia"), first published on 5 July 1687. (When Newton's book was presented in 1686 to the Royal Society, Robert Hooke made a claim that Newton had obtained the inverse square law from him; see the History section below.)

[Rodgera]

I did not realise that a sense of humour was not a prerequisite for this forum!

[ian]

it's the 200 year error in the date that upsets me.



but as any reader of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy knows, people can still fly -- the tricky bit is mastering the art of missing the ground

[Mr Brush]

Just takes a gentle swoop.......and something very interesting to distract you from hitting the ground at just the right moment......

Am I the only person who still misses Douglas Adams terribly, not to mention (Sir) Terry Pratchett??