牛顿与胡克的关于万有引力定律的优先权之争

On the Priority Dispute Concerning the Universal Gravitation Between Newton and Hooke

牛顿与胡克的有关平方反比与合成轨道运动分析法的优先权之争一直为研究者所关注。柯瓦雷认为胡克坚持平方反比的优先权完全正确;科恩认为胡克最重要的功劳是对曲线轨道运动的分析;韦斯特福对牛顿和胡克均有深入的研究,他承认了胡克的平方反比和合成轨道运动分析法的优先权。无论优先权属于何者,可以确定的是,胡克的确影响了牛顿的引力思想。通过对牛顿的手稿、胡克的天体力学论文、两者间通信及前人的成果进行研究,认为胡克对万有引力定律的重要贡献是提出了向心力的核心概念。

As the importance of Universal Gravitation has been widely recognized,there are large amounts of disputes on the priority question concerning the inversesquare law and compounding of the celestial motions of the planets between Newton and Hooke,which intrigues scholars all over the world.Alexandre Koyre insisted that Hooke’s claim to his priority on the inverse-square law was valid.I.B.Cohen considered compounding of the celestial motions of the planets as Hooke’s most significant contribution.Richard S.Westfall who is an expert on both Newton and Hooke admitted Hooke’s priority on the inverse-square law and compounding of the celestial motions of the planets.It is certain that Hooke did have an influence on Newton’s idea of Uinversal Gravitation.What kind of inspiration did Newton get from Hooke?What is Hooke’s most significant contribution to Universal Gravitation?This article studies Newton’s manuscripts,Hooke’s experiments and papers on celestial dynamic and the correspondence between them.The author’s conclusion is that Hooke’s central contribution is suggesting the idea of a centripetal force,which Newton then adopted into his understanding of Gravitation.