Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 15, Issue 1, Article 4 (Jun., 2014) Wheijen CHANG, Beverley BELL and Alister JONES Historical development of Newton’s laws of motion and suggestions for teaching content Previous Contents Next

Introduction

By reviewing the history of Newton’s Laws of Motion, we argue that what are contemporarily called “Newton’s Laws” vary considerably from those accepted in Newton’s age. Thus, teaching content and textbooks should modernize their content by avoiding statements similar to Newton’s original publications, and supplement thorough details of the modernized definitions of the key terms.

A review of the historical development of Newton’s Laws of Motion is presented in three stages of time: (1) prior to the Principia, (2) the 3rd (last) edition of the Principia, and (3) the modern view. Then, suggestions for teaching content are provided.