Cite
Print

Contents

Biographical

Newton, Isaac (1642–1727)

DOI
10.4324/9780415249126-Q075-1
Versions
DOI: 10.4324/9780415249126-Q075-1
Version: v1,  Published online: 1998
Retrieved June 07, 2026, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/newton-isaac-1642-1727/v-1

List of works

  • Newton, I. (1687) Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, London: Joseph Streater (for the Royal Society); 2nd edn, Cambridge, 1713; 3rd edn, London: Guil. & Joh. Innys (for the Royal Society), 1726.

    (Newton’s monumental contribution, forever transforming science.)

  • Newton, I. (1715) ‘An Account of the Book Entitled Commercium epistolicum‘, Philosophical Transactions 29 (342): 173–224.

    (Newton’s anonymous review of the Royal Society’s findings in the dispute over whether he or Leibniz had priority for inventing the calculus. Reprinted in Hall 1980.)

  • Newton, I. (1730) Opticks or a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light, 4th edn; New York: Dover, 1952.

    (Based on the fourth edition of 1730. Newton’s other major contribution to science.)

  • Newton, I. (1733) Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St John, London; repr. W. Whitla, Sir Isaac Newton’s Daniel and the Apocalypse with an Introductory Study… of Unbelief, of Miracles and Prophecy, London: John Murray, 1922.

    (Published posthumously, Newton’s most influential work in theology.)

  • Newton, I. (1958) Isaac Newton’s Papers and Letters on Natural Philosophy and Related Documents, ed. I.B. Cohen, assisted by R.E. Schofield, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    (Contains the publications in the dispute on light and colours as they appeared in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Second revised edition 1978.)

  • Newton, I. (1959–77) The Correspondence of Isaac Newton, eds H.W. Turnbull, A. Scott, A.R. Hall and L. Tilling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 7 vols.

    (Newton’s correspondence from 1661 to 1727, including correspondence by others and related papers.)

  • Newton, I. (1962) Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton, eds A.R. Hall and M.B. Hall, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; repr. 2nd edn, 1978.

    (Contains several early papers in mechanics as well as the first full tract on the calculus, ‘To Resolve Problems by Motion’.)

  • Newton, I. (1965) The Background to Newton’s Principia: A Study of Newton’s Dynamical Researches in the Years 1664–84, ed. J.W. Herivel, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    (Contains most early papers and fragments leading to the Principia, with commentary and analysis.)

  • Newton, I. (1967–81) The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton, ed. D.T. Whiteside, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 8 vols.

    (Newton’s mathematical manuscripts from 1664 to 1722, authoritatively annotated in invaluable detail.)

  • Newton, I. (1972) Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (from the 3rd edn of 1726) with variant readings, eds A. Koyré and I.B. Cohen, with assistance of A. Whitman, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2 vols.

    (Includes not only all variants from the first two editions, but also those from Newton’s manuscripts and annotated copies.)

  • Newton, I. (1983) Certain Philosophical Questions: Newton’s Trinity Notebook, eds J.E. McGuire and M. Tamny, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (Newton’s notebook from his early years at Cambridge, displaying his scientific style before it had matured.)

  • Newton, I. (1984) The Optical Papers of Isaac Newton, vol. 1, ed. A.E. Shapiro, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (The first volume of Newton’s extensive unpublished writings on optics, detailing his numerous experiments.)

  • Newton, I. (1995) Newton – A Norton Critical Edition, eds I.B. Cohen and R.S. Westfall, New York: W.W. Norton.

    (A selection of Newton’s writings from all areas of his work, with commentaries that extend across four centuries.)

  • Newton, I. (1997) Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, trans. I.B. Cohen and A. Whitman, Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    (The first entirely new English translation of Newton’s Principia since Andrew Motte’s of 1729.)

References and further reading

  • Bricker P. and Hughes R.I.G. (1990) Philosophical Perspectives on Newtonian Science, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    (Among the many excellent collections inspired by the 300th anniversary of the first edition of the Principia, this one is especially focused on philosophy.)

  • Cohen, I.B. (1974) ‘Isaac Newton’, in Ch. Gillispie (ed.) Dictionary of Scientific Biography, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, vol. 10, 42–103.

    (A comparatively brief, but authoratitive survey of Newton’s life and work.)

  • Cohen, I.B. (1980) The Newtonian Revolution, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (An analysis of Newton’s style in science, as exemplified in the Principia.)

  • Dobbs, B.J.T. (1990) ‘Newton as Alchemist and Theologian’, in N.J.W. Thrower (ed.) Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: A Longer View of Newton and Halley, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    (An extensive discussion of the topics of §7.)

  • Earman, J. (1989) World Enough and Space-Time: Absolute versus Relational Theories of Space and Time, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    (This together with Stein’s paper in Palter 1971 is good background for §3.)

  • Gjertsen, D. (1986) The Newton Handbook, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    (Contains a complete listing of Newton’s works and an extensive bibliography of secondary sources.)

  • Hall, A.R. (1980) Philosophers at War: The Quarrel Between Newton and Leibniz, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (The history of the priority dispute over the calculus; includes Newton 1715.)

  • Hall, A.R. (1992) Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    (The best concise biography of Newton.)

  • Harper, W.L. (1997) ‘Isaac Newton on Empirical Success and Scientific Method’, in J. Earman and J. Norton (eds) The Cosmos of Science, Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    (This paper gives further development of material in §§3–5.)

  • Harper, W.L. and Smith, G.E. (1995) ‘Newton’s New Way of Inquiry’, in J. Leplin (ed.) The Creation of Ideas in Physics: Studies for a Methodology of Theory Construction, Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    (This paper expands on material in §§2, 4–5.)

  • Harrison, J. (1978) The Library of Isaac Newton, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (A listing of the books in Newton’s personal library.)

  • Koyré, A. (1968) Newtonian Studies, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    (Classic material especially for §§ 3, 4.)

  • Palter, R. (1971) The Annus Mirabilis of Sir Isaac Newton 1666–1966, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    (This classic collection contains papers still relevant to most sections.)

  • Stein, H. (1991) ‘From the Phenomena of Motions to the Forces of Nature: Hypothesis or Deduction?’, in A. Fine, M. Forbes and L. Wessels (eds) PSA 1990, East Lansing, MI: Philosophy of Science Association, vol. 2, 209–222.

    (Relevant to material in §§4–5.)

  • Theerman, P. and Seeff A.F. (1993) Action and Reaction, Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press.

    (Includes papers relevent to §7 as well as to most other sections.)

  • Westfall, R.S. (1980) Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (The most thorough intellectual biography of Newton, also available abridged as The Life of Isaac Newton, 1993.)

  • Whiteside, D.T. (1991) ‘The prehistory of the Principia from 1664–1686’, in Notes and Records, The Royal Society of London 45: 11–61.

    (A review of the steps from Newton’s earliest investigations of motion to the first edition of the Principia.)

  • Wilson, C. (1989) ‘The Newtonian Achievement in Astronomy’, in R. Taton and C. Wilson (eds) Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the Rise of Astrophysics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    (A critical summary of the contributions Newton’s Principia made to planetary astronomy.)

Cite
Print
Citing this article:
Harper, William L. et al. Bibliography. Newton, Isaac (1642–1727), 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-Q075-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/newton-isaac-1642-1727/v-1/bibliography/newton-isaac-1642-1727-bib.
Copyright © 1998-2026 Routledge.

Related Articles