Then he cracked the code of the universe. Newton discovered that motion of any kind always unfolds one infinitesimal step at a time, steered from moment to moment by mathematical laws written in the language of calculus. With just a handful of differential equations (his laws of motion and gravity), he could explain everything from the arc of a cannonball to the orbits of the planets. His astonishing “system of the world” unified heaven and earth, launched the Enlightenment, and changed Western culture. Its impact on the philosophers and poets of Europe was immense. He even influenced Thomas
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