Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
As was brought out in Nova on KCPT last Tuesday, Sir Isaac Newton was one of the greatest scientists of all time. Copernicus (1473-1543) developed the theory that the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun, as opposed to the long-standing view that the earth is motionless and the center of the universe and that other heavenly bodies moved around the earth. But Newton discovered how the universe, is held together through gravitation. As I learned in an astronomy class at K.U. many years ago: Every body has a tendency to go through space in a straight line. Added to this is the principle that every body attracts every other body through gravitation. So , applying these principles to the moon: The moon would be going in a straight line, but it is pulled towards the earth by gravitation. As a result of these two opposing forces, the moon revolves around the earth. And so it is with the planets revolving around the sun