Abstract
Abstract Bodies are everywhere, or so it seems: from pebbles to planets, tigers to tables, pine trees to people; animate and inanimate, natural and artificial, they populate the world, acting and interacting with one another. And they are the subject-matter of Newton’s laws of motion. At the beginning of the 18th century, physics was that branch of philosophy tasked with the study of body in general. In Chapter 1, the authors present the central theme of their book: the problem of bodies. They articulate the main analytical tools they use to address it, including “philosophical mechanics,” the framework within which they assess progress toward solving the problem of bodies. They give a chapter-by-chapter synopsis and preview their conclusion that the 18th century is fruitfully viewed as a golden era of philosophical mechanics.
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