ABSTRACT
The concept of motion underwent great changes from the end of the sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth. The dominant view for much of the period was the Aristotelian concept and its associated doctrines as represented in the textbooks of the Collegio Romano; late Scholasticism already countenanced important departures from Aristotle’s (384-322 B.C.E.) views-the addition of impetus theory in particular. But the work of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), René Descartes (1596-1650), and others resulted in further significant alterations, encapsulated in the principle of inertia, which ultimately led to Isaac Newton’s (1642-1727) account. However, not all issues resulted in consensus: for instance, Newton’s views on absolute accelerations were disputed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716).
