> Halley’s intervention saved science from being reduced to “things fall down because they do” for another century.
Well, that might be stretching it. Speaking as someone who has done a little university level physics the understanding still seems to be basically that things fall because they do - we haven't made much progress beyond a firm strike-through of the word "down".
Newton's contribution was a very precise description of how rapidly they fall, and how we can calculate and understand the direction that things fall in complex multidimensional settings.
Well, that might be stretching it. Speaking as someone who has done a little university level physics the understanding still seems to be basically that things fall because they do - we haven't made much progress beyond a firm strike-through of the word "down".
Newton's contribution was a very precise description of how rapidly they fall, and how we can calculate and understand the direction that things fall in complex multidimensional settings.