Discoveries in mathematics and the laws of gravity during the Scientific Revolution revealed the hidden forces that govern the motion of objects on Earth and in space. These discoveries were largely thanks to English scientist Isaac Newton, whose work united the concepts of physics and mathematics, providing a framework that explained the movements of planets and objects on Earth alike.

Before Newton, scientists like Galileo and Kepler had laid important groundwork in understanding motion and planetary orbits. Legend has it that Newton built on their discoveries after an apple fell from a tree onto his head.

He developed the law of universal gravitation, which stated that every object in the universe attracts every other object. The strength of this attraction depends on the masses of the objects and the distance between them. Newton described that gravity is the force that makes an apple fall, holds us on the ground, and keeps the moon and planets in their orbits.

While teaching at Cambridge in 1687, Newton published his findings in The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, also known simply as the Principia. This work laid out his three laws of motion, which describe how objects move and interact. His first law, often called the law of inertia, states that an object will remain at rest or in motion unless acted upon by an external force. The second law explains how force, mass, and acceleration are related, while the third law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. These principles helped explain everything from the orbit of planets to the way a ball rolls across a field.