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Re: Which came first, mass or inertia?



I'm not sure these things are exactlyi precise "facts" and I am not a
historian of science, but here is an opinion.

Taken stricly, both the concepts of mass and momentum are first in Newton.
I don't think there is any antecedent suggestion of separating weight and
mass before Newton. However, there was a concept related to momentum in
medieval physics. Aristotelian physics says that a body on which no force
is acting comes to rest. Since it is clear in the case of things like
arrows they do nott immediatelyi cease moving after leaving the bow,
medieval natural philosophers introduced a notion, which I think was
called, "impressed motion" which gradually dissipated over time. It is an
ancestor, in my opinion, to the notion of momentum.

A dictionary of the history of science would probably give you more info,
if you want it.

Richard Grandy
Philosophy
Rice University

At 9:38 PM -0500 7/15/98, Tom McCarthy wrote:
Help!
I figured someone out there would know these historical facts. If
there
is someone who knows this please fill me in! I am isolated and have tried
asked the usual suspects, like the web...
Tom

----------
Does anyone know if the concept of mass, as
the quantity of matter, preceded the notion of inertia? I know that
weight
has been used since the dawn o' man but what about mass?

On the same topic, does anyone know, in modern language, how Newton
introduced momentum as the "quantity of motion?" and did he derive the
Law of Conservation of Momentum and if he did, did he call it that?

Where does the word momentum come from in the strictest sense. Is this
a Newton creation also?

Thanks for the light of your wisdom!

Tom McCarthy