...changes that state . . .' Newton himself said the same thing in qu. 3 1 of the Opticks: 'The Vis inertiae is a passive Principle by which Bodies persist in...there never could have been any Motion in the World' (Newton, 1952, p. 397). The scholar cannot help but be interested in the fact that Newton still continued...

...passive principle by which bodies . . . receive motion in proportion to the force impressing it. ... By this principle alone there never could have been any motion in the world. It seems to me farther, that these particles [of matter] have not only a vis inertiae, accompanied...

...gravity is not an inherent or essential property of matter. In the Opticks, Newton contrasted inertia as a "passive principle by which bodies persist in their motion or rest" with "active principles, such as are the cause of gravity." Matter in itself does not have the capacity...

...from that Force . . ."; and with no possibility of misconstruction (ibid., p. 397) : "The Vis inertiae is a passive Principle by which Bodies persist in...impressing it, and resist as much as they are resisted." 270 depend upon fields of force, both attractive and repulsive, among the particles of bodies; and...

...3 1 of the second English edition (London, 1717-18) of his Opticks Newton writes: 'The Vis inertiae is a passive Principle by which Bodies persist in...there never could have been any Motion in the World.' Newton goes on to surmise that God in the Beginning form'd Matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable,...

...inertiae by itself does not add to motion but rather acts to conserve motion or rest: The Vis inertiae is a passive Principle by which Bodies persist in...alone there never could have been any Motion in the World.13 Although it explains why bodies persist in their motions, the vis inertiae is nothing like...

...clearly stated in one of the queries added by Newton to the 1717 edition of his Opticks: The Vis inertiae is a passive Principle by which Bodies persist in...Principle was necessary for putting Bodies into Motion. (Newton, Opticks, p. 397) Indeed, only by regarding impressed forces as primary - and not necessarily...

...Newton then reminded the reader that God is necessary for getting everything going: The Vis inerliae is a passive Principle by which Bodies persist in...as they are resisted. By this Principle alone there could never have been any Motion in the World. Some other Principle was necessary for putting Bodies...

...prove the existence of God. Having pointed out that inertia is merely a passive principle, he says: "By this Principle alone there never could have been...Principle was necessary for putting Bodies into Motion" (Koyre FCW, 216). The necessity of thinking of matter as moved by "certain active Principles," Newton...

...187—88. 38. Kubrin, "Newton and the Cyclical Cosmos," p. 330; see also pp. 333—34. The Vis inertiae is a passive Principle by which Bodies persist in...there never could have been any Motion in the World: 40 Consequently, in Newton's cosmological theory as in the very different writings we have been examining,...