The Theory of Gravitation: Feynman's Physics Explained

For centuries the motion of the planets was a mystery. Kepler found the pattern — planets trace ellipses, sweeping out equal areas in equal times — but not the reason. Newton's brilliant idea was that planets are constantly falling toward the Sun while moving sideways so fast they keep missing it. He found one universal rule: everything pulls on everything else with a force that weakens as the inverse square of the distance. That single law explains falling apples, the ocean tides, and the orbits of distant galaxies.

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