Forces, Gravity & the Scientific Revolution
Enrichment · Science & Ideas
Newton's laws and universal gravitation told through the people who worked them out — the story behind the physics.
Start here — the story
A plague closes the university. A student goes home to an isolated farmhouse with nothing to do, and in about eighteen months invents a new kind of mathematics, works out what light is, and asks whether the force that drops an apple might reach as far as the Moon. He then tells almost nobody for twenty years.
The Complete Guide to Forces, Gravity & the Scientific Revolution — 5 chapters, about 11 minutes. You are not expected to know anything before you start.
What you’ll be able to explain
- State and apply Newton's three laws
- Explain universal gravitation in plain words
- Distinguish mass from weight without hesitating
The assessed treatment is Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics Topic 1 (Forces and motion), which requires specific relationships, calculations and a required practical. This course is the story, not the syllabus.
Revising it for the exam? The assessed version on Incandio is Topic 1 · Forces and motion — Physics, taught lesson by lesson with the Learn → Prove → Teach → Defend gates.