Isaac Newton and the problem of the Earth's shape (Q1913676)

The author discusses Newton's theory of the Earth's shape which even the most reputable continental mathematicians took as incomprehensible. He examines the gaps, the underived equations, the unproven assertions, the dependence upon corollaries to practically incomprehensible theorems and the ambiguities of these corollaries, the conjectures without explanations of their basis, the inconsistencies etc. He explains why these apparent drawbacks are strengths of Newton's theory of the Earth's shape, not weaknesses, when considered historically. It appears that the Principia became an indispensible tool of research because of its ``defects''. \textit{John L. Greenberg} is the author of the book The problem of the Earth's shape from Newton to Clairaut. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1995; Zbl 0833.01012).