Early work in the rational mechanics of constrained motion

Abstract

Abstract After 1700, the motion of bodies with constraints (internal and external) takes center stage in rational mechanics. In Chapter 8, the authors review the early decades of the century, highlighting developments that were to prove most salient for the problem of bodies. Of particular interest is the wealth of work during this period on the vibrating string and the compound pendulum. Theorists at this time seek general principles and uniform methods for treating constraints. But, as the authors show, they generally fall short of these desiderata. That insufficient outcome would shape the agenda for rational mechanics through the latter half of the century.