Basic seismology 15: Isaac Newton

and the birth of geophysics

ENDERS A. ROBINSON and DEAN CLARK
In 1687, Isaac Newton (1643–1727) gave mathematical form
to the theory of gravity in his book Philosophiae Naturalis
Downloaded 10/01/13 to 189.143.137.70. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

Principia Mathematica, nearly always referred to as the Prin-

cipia. Since his achievement can be considered the starting
point of modern geophysics and planetary science, this arti-
cle takes a slight detour from seismology to discuss some
of its impact on what geoscientists do today.
The practical application of Newton’s law of gravity
arrived pretty quickly (very quickly, considering the long
time that it took for “technology transfer” in that era). In
1735–1745, the French Academy sent expeditions to Lapland
and Peru on which Pierre Bouguer established gravitational
relationships such as the variation of gravity with elevation,
the horizontal attraction caused by mountains, and the den-
sity of the Earth. Today, gravity surveying is usually done
with a gravimeter, an instrument consisting of a weight
attached to a spring that stretches or contracts correspond-
ing to an increase or decrease in gravity. It is designed to
measure differences in gravity acceleration rather than
absolute magnitudes. Gravimeters used in geophysical sur- Figure 1. Appollonius: As Q shrinks back to P, the ratio u / h2 becomes
veys are capable of detecting differences in the Earth’s grav- a / 2b2.
itational field to one part in one hundred million.
Newton’s thinking can be illustrated by looking at three
diagrams—one based on Apollonius (262–190 BCE), one
based on Galileo (1564–1642), and one based on Kepler
(1571–1630)—and then at a fourth, based on Newton, which
is a composite of the others.
The Greek geometer and astronomer Apollonius of Perga
developed the theory of conic sections. Particularly impor-
tant is his theorem on conjugate diameters. For our present
purpose we use the special case when the two conjugate
diameters are the major and minor axes (Figure 1).
However, before Newton could use the Apollonius the-
orem, the overwhelming influence of Aristotle on physics
had to be overturned. A particular roadblock to progress was
his concept of the motion of a projectile. According to
Aristotle, the motion of a projectile was made up of thrust
and descent. The upward thrust was produced by the source
(the string on a bow, or gunpowder), and the descent was Figure 2. Galileo: Parabolic trajectory with descent u= gt2 / 2, which
produced by the natural tendency of an arrow or cannon- gives g = 2u / t2.
ball to fall to the ground. Because (or so deemed the con-
ventional wisdom) the two motions could not occur
simultaneously, it was necessary for the upward thrust to weight of the object represents the force of gravity and can
be completed before the projectile could fall. Thus a pro- be written as mg, where m denotes mass. Galileo used the
jectile would follow a straight-line path until the upward Archimedes method of exhaustion to integrate, in effect, the
thrust was consumed; then it would fall straight down. velocity with respect to time and establish that the vertical
This incorrect theory dominated theoretical physics for distance fallen in a given time is u=gt2/2. Galileo used the
centuries. According to Aristotle, a gunner should aim Italian word gravita, which was translated as gravity in
straight at the target. However, practical military men knew English. Next, Galileo applied this result to the calculation
this procedure was incorrect, so they would aim above the of ballistic trajectories with the revolutionary concept that
target. Galileo took the decisive step to correcting Aristotle’s the thrust component and the descent component could
false description. He first developed the theory of freely both act at the same time, resulting in a parabolic trajectory
falling bodies based on his realization that a force directly (Figure 2).
affects the vertical velocity of a freely falling object. Through At about the same time, Johannes Kepler empirically dis-
experimentation, Galileo found this force causes the object covered three very important laws. Kepler’s first law says
to gain equal increments in vertical velocity over equal inter- that a planet, such as the Earth, travels in an elliptic orbit
vals of time. Thus the force of gravity produces a constant around the Sun. The Sun S is at one focus of the ellipse.
acceleration, g, which Galileo expressed mathematically by Nothing is at the other focus. The perihelion is the point in
writing the vertical velocity as v=gt where t denotes time. the orbit of a planet at which it is closest to the Sun. The
This equation holds whatever the weight of the object. The aphelion is the point at which it is furthest from the Sun.

FEBRUARY 2008 THE LEADING EDGE 159

 often overlooked, it is now known that Robert Hooke
(1635–1708) proposed that planetary motion is simultane-
ously made up of two motions: one a thrust (due to inertia)
along the tangent line and the other a descent (caused by
gravity) toward the central body (the Sun). Hooke also pro-
posed that the force exerted by the Sun varies inversely as
the square of the radial distance from the Sun to the planet.
However, Hooke was unable to mathematically prove his
Downloaded 10/01/13 to 189.143.137.70. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

ideas. As a consequence, Hooke, in a series of letters in 1679,

sent his propositions to a mathematics professor at Cam-
bridge University, Isaac Newton, and changed history.
Like any mathematician, Newton would first try a sim-
ple case. One such simple case would be to place the planet
at the perihelion P. If he could prove that the simple case
did not work, then he would go no further. However,
Newton could prove that the simple case worked, and he
could expand his proof to the general case. Newton’s proof
Figure 3. Kepler: Time for planet to go from P to Q is t = rh / 2. is generally considered the greatest scientific achievement
in the history of mankind. As implied earlier, Newton’s
proof in effect puts together the figures of Apollonius,
Galileo, and Kepler (Figure 4). First, Newton uses Galileo,
as stated in Book 1 of the Principia:

Galileo discovered that the descent of bodies varied as

the square of time, and that the motion of projectiles was
in the curve of a parabola.

Newton used this idea by taking the novel approach of

treating a planet as a projectile. If there were no gravitational
force, the planet would travel along the tangent line and go
from P to R in the time interval t (à la the thinking of
Aristotle). But there is gravity, so the planet descends the
distance u in the time interval. If the points P and Q are close,
then the acceleration of gravity is (approximately) constant,
as in the case of Earth-bound projectiles. In time t the planet
goes along the elliptic arc from P to Q and this arc can be
approximated by Galileo’s parabola.
Figure 4. Case of planet at perihelion.
Second, Newton uses Kepler, specifically his law that the
time required for the body to travel from point P to point
Q is proportional to the area of the sector QSP, which is
These two points lie at opposite ends of the major axis. The approximately equal to the area (rh/2) of triangle QSP in
planet’s speed changes along its orbit. The planet moves Figure 3.
fastest at the perihelion and slowest at the aphelion. Third, Newton lets Q shrink to P and uses Apollonius
Kepler’s second law states that the radial line joining a (Figure 1).
planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal inter- These three results can be combined to obtain
vals of time. In other words, the second law says that the time
it takes for the planet to go from point P to point Q is pro-
portional to the area of the sector PSQ that the planet sweeps
out in that time. There is no simple formula for the area of a
pie wedge cut out of an ellipse, but if we consider a very short where
time interval, the area of the sector is very nearly that of tri-
angle PSQ. The area of the triangle is one-half the product of
the base r and the height h (Figure 3).
Although his contribution to the theory of gravity is The general proof, as given by Newton, is the same as the

160 THE LEADING EDGE FEBRUARY 2008

 proof given here for the special case, except that the gen- power of this mathematical technique.
eral form of the Apollonius theorem must be used. At the time when Newton did his work, the vortex the-
If m is the mass of the planet, the gravitational force is ory of planetary motion as given by René Descartes
given by F=mg. Thus we have obtained Newton’s solution (1596–1650) held sway. Believing in the impossibility of the
to Hooke’s assertion: The gravitational force of the Sun on vacuum, Descartes claimed that matter fills all space. Matter
a planet varies inversely as the square of the distance, r, from consists of ordinary matter (which we see), ether (which we
the Sun to the planet. If the Sun exerts a gravitational force cannot see), and light. Motion results from the impact of par-
on the Earth, then the Earth should exert the same force on ticle upon particle. (As geophysicists, we know that seismic
Downloaded 10/01/13 to 189.143.137.70. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

the Sun. Thus Newton came to the law of universal gravi- wave motion is caused by the serial action of each particle
tation: Two objects attract each other with a force propor- of rock impacting the next particle in the path of the wave.)
tional to the product of their masses and inversely Movement in Descartes’ universe tends to create a swirl or
proportional to the square of the distance between them. The vortex. The solar system is an ethereal vortex with the Sun
symbol G designates the constant of proportionality. at the center and the planets swirling around. A subsidiary
Newton was unable to determine of the value of G. vortex would carry the moons around a planet. The universe
However, another idea by Hooke provided the means to consists of such vortices, each with a star as center. The vor-
solve this problem. Hooke’s law is stated in four Latin tices fit together like an aggregation of soap bubbles.
words, ut tensio, sic vis, which are usually translated into Just as we understand seismic waves, we can understand
English as, “strain is proportional to stress.” (See Basic the mechanical universe of Descartes. But then Newton
Seismology 4, 1988). A torsion balance measures the value of comes along in 1687 with a theory that posits the mysteri-
an unknown stress by the amount of strain produced. In ous, occult quality known as gravity. In time Newton’s the-
1798, Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) made a torsion balance ory prevailed. A major reason is that Newton’s formula (as
that was sufficiently accurate to measure the gravitational derived here) provides the accuracy and predictive scope
force between two lead balls. The resulting value of G was to explain geophysical and astrophysical phenomena. We
very close to the value accepted today. Using the accepted accept that gravity exerts a force through the vacuum of
value of G, the mass of the Earth comes out to be 6 ǂ 1024 space, but we cannot comprehend the mechanism of action
kg. at a distance. In other words, we can grasp what gravity does,
An interesting curiosity is that Newton’s solution is usu- but we are unable to fathom how. We can understand the
ally not even mentioned in high school geometry books, universe of Newton only up to a point. Voltaire (1694–1778)
much less demonstrated. The reason is calculus, which wrote Procedes huc, et non amplius, which translated is: Thus
Newton (despite being the co-inventor of calculus) never far shalt thou go, and no further. TLE
used in the several editions of the Principia that appeared
in his lifetime. The calculus solution demonstrates the great Corresponding author: [email protected]

FEBRUARY 2008 THE LEADING EDGE 161