Newton was a natural philosopher (the word "scientist" had not yet been coined) who described a planetary system held together by gravitational forces. His Principia changed science forever; gravity not only explained the orbits of stars, it explained common earthly events as well. Newton established a way of thinking that still shapes our everyday understanding of how the world works.

The Science and Discovery series recreates one of history's most successful journeys--four thousand years of scientific efforts to better understand and control the physical world. Science has often challenged and upset conventional wisdom or accepted practices; this is a story of vested interests and independent thinkers, experiments and theories, change and progress.