Newton's Propositions on Comets: Steps in Transition, 1681–84

Abstract

Isaac Newton's closest approach to a system of the world in the critical period 1681–84 is provided in a set of untitled propositions concerning comets. They drastically revise his position maintained against Flamsteed in 1681 and may signal his adoption of a single comet solution for the appearances of 1680/1. Points of agreement and difference with the key pre-Principia texts of 1684–85 are analysed. He shows substantial control of the phenomena of tails which change very little in mechanical detail throughout his subsequent work. An emerging theory of gravitation brings planets, their satellites, and comets under the same laws of motion, yet retains a celestial vortex and includes a singular proposition in lieu of the usual formulation of Keplers area law. The analysis raises questions on a number of issues of recent Newtonian scholarship ranging from his achievement following his correspondence with Robert Hooke in 1679 to his veneration of the wisdom of the ancients.