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Single Idea 20969

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 2. Thermodynamics / c. Conservation of energy ]

Full Idea

A barrier to the formulation of an energy conservation principle by early Newtonians was their lack of a notion of potential energy.

Gist of Idea

Early Newtonians could not formulate conservation of energy, having no concept of potential energy

Source

report of Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687]) by David Papineau - Thinking about Consciousness App 3 n5

Book Ref

Papineau,David: 'Thinking about Consciousness' [OUP 2004], p.239

A Reaction

Interestingly, the notions of potentiality and actuality were central to Aristotle, but Newtonians had just rejected all of that.

The 6 ideas with the same theme [energy cannot be created or destroyed]:

20969 Early Newtonians could not formulate conservation of energy, having no concept of potential energy [Newton, by Papineau]
20965 Leibniz upheld conservations of momentum and energy [Leibniz, by Papineau]
20973 All forces conserve the sum of kinetic and potential energy [Helmholtz, by Papineau]
20623 First Law: energy can change form, but is conserved overall [Close]
20975 Quantum 'wave collapses' seem to violate conservation of energy [Papineau]
21211 If an expected reaction does not occur, that implies a conservation law [Martin,BR]