スギモト タケシ   Sugimoto Takeshi
  杉本 剛
   所属   神奈川大学  情報学部 システム数理学科
    神奈川大学大学院  工学研究科 工学専攻(情報システム創成領域)
   職種   教授
言語種別 日本語
発行・発表の年月 2009/07
形態種別 その他
標題 Transformation of Proposition VII in Book I of Newton's Principia
with special reference to the adjoining figures
執筆形態 単著
掲載誌名 XXIII International Congress of History of Science and Technology, Book of Abstracts
巻・号・頁 454頁
概要 Newton's Principia is a difficult book for modern readers. One of the reasons is loss of knowledge on Apollonius's conics: this will be solved elsewhere in the near future. The original text is written in Latin, which is another hurdle. Translation of scientific documents needs special care to every words, equations and figures. One of the symbolic errors in figures of Principia is found in the one adjoining Proposition VII in Book I. Scrutiny of the figures in different editions and translations leads us to two findings. One is transformation of the figures made by Newton himself: this revision results in extensive use of this proposition in proofs for other propositions. Another is a mere but serious error made by an editor and a draftsman engaged in an American edition of Principia in 1934. This error contaminates several modern editions of Principia in Japanese (1971 & 1979) and English (1999).