In your opinion, did Newton discover gravity or invent it?

Question

Gravity is, in my opinion, a concept or a theory - an abstract idea. You cannot observe gravity, but you can observe its effects. The theory was invented, and facilitated calculations to confirm the observed effects. Personally, therefore, I consider gravity, or more correctly the Theory of Gravity, to be an invention.

Answer 1

Glad you corrected the question in the added data. Newton didn't discover nor invent gravity, he FORMULATED the THEORY of gravity.
Gravity was not there to discover. Any living thing knew it was there. As gravity is a natural force, it's not for any man to invent it either.
Newton instead formulated a theory on the workings of gravity, on which many later scientific principles are based.
I think it would be fair to say one discovers practical matters and locations, one invents tangible objects (to be put to practical use). This scientific advancement was probably neither. I would call it a theoretical technological advancement which opened up new avenues of thought on which later new scientific principles were built.
Good enough? :)

Answer 2

Electromagnetism, Light, Spectral theories, Gravity, Space-Time, Molecular Theory, Evolution, Force, Relativity, Kepler's planetary laws - so many things in science have been supposed to be discovered by humans, and analyzed mathematically. Gravity for one, between two bodies has been proven through experiment to be inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

What you are probably asking (and I like to agree with you) is whether the existence of a force of attraction between two bodies was Newton's hypothesis or whether it actually exists. Well, the answer to that would probably be - So far, the hypothesis has not been proven wrong. Till it is disproven, or an alternate theory or hypothesis proposed, it will be accepted in the scientific world, and in the world of lay persons, as hard fact, because life cannot proceed beyond 5th grade physics if one doesn't have anything to explain that force of attraction which Newton proposed, was Gravity.

I am not sure whether the words 'hypothesis' or 'theory' mean the same as the word 'invention'. The former belong in one category, as in - sharing a common purpose of finding the causes or reasons behind observed phenomena. Invention, defined by the US Patent law is - A new, useful process, machine, improvement, etc., that did not exist previously and that is recognized as the product of some unique intuition or genius, as distinguished from ordinary mechanical skill or craftsmanship.

Just for the sake of arguing upon words, Newton's theory of Gravity can neither be proven beyond human doubt as a discovery, nor, within the framework of human law, an invention. It remains, like relativity, a Theory, accepted as true until proven false.

Answer 3

I disagree that it's an invention. He observed the effect of gravity and formulated the theory, which I believe is a discovery.
For Newton to invent gravity it cannot have existed before. Gravity was always there. He discovered it.

Answer 4

Ya see, ya go and change on me. . .

My answser for the original "In your opinion, did Newton discover gravity or invent it? " would be neither. Gravity was known before Newton, so he could neither discover or invent it.

Gravity is not a concept or thoery, gravity is a force of nature, one of the 5 forces of nature.

But then, you go and talk about his Theory of Gravity, which is a whole different ball game.

He DISCOVERD some previously unknown properties of gravity, and using what he discovered, he invented his Theory of Gravity.

Let's look at the defination of the word "invent":

in·vent (n-vnt) KEY

TRANSITIVE VERB:
in·vent·ed , in·vent·ing , in·vents
1.To produce or contrive (something previously unknown) by the use of ingenuity or imagination.
2. To make up; fabricate: invent a likely excuse.

I would say his creation of The Theory of Gravity fits defination 1.

However, I would use the word CREATE before the word INVENT, but that is just a matter of syntax, and either would be correct.

Answer 5

The theory of gravity may be a invention, but the only theory is naming it. Gravity existed before Newton named it and therefore is a discovery. The reasons for gravitational pull are, essentially, theoretical and are yet to be proved beyond doubt. The theory of gravity may be described as an invention but gravity itself must be a discovery.

Answer 6

Did gravity not exist before Newton then? Did everything float about in space before he found away to keep it all grounded?

No, it was not invented. It is a law of physics that humans attempt to understand.

I do get where you're coming from - but it's called a theory because our explanation of it may not be right (although it probably is) - but that doesn't mean that it might not exist at all. The fact that you are sitting on your chair, not floating around the room, is solid proof that gravity exists.

Answer 7

He didn't invent or discover anything. He observed the effect of gravity; apples falling in an orchard, asked the question why and went on to explain what he had observed using the concept of gravity.

Answer 8

Easy. Before Newton threw that apple at the tree and invented the gravitys there was nothing to hold things to the ground. Fish floated in the sky like birds, crops often failed as farmers freshly sown seeds rose from the field(to be eaten by the fish). Gravity was certainly Newtons second best invention, after the toaster.

Answer 9

Newton formulated mathematical laws that described the effect of gravity on the motion of bodies (objects). These all formed part of his work on the laws of motion (mechanics).

He didn't discover or invent gravity - Galileo had experimented with gravity by dropping different sizes of cannonballs off the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

And of course, Einstein extended our understanding of gravity with his general theory of relativity, which says that mass and energy are interchangeable, so even light is affected by gravity.

Answer 10

discover...

I hate to be rude but it seems you have no idea what science is and how it works

ok, on a second reading I take back some of my words...(are you a philosopher or a mathematician?)

Anyway, in a sense you are right that science (Theory of Gravity here) is a human invention, same as mathematics, but that's a different subject

It is a product of human mind and intellect. Unlike the mathematicians, physicists BELIEVE there is Nature out there that exists on its own independently of our mind

The science role is to study and therefore discover nature's laws and properties whereas the technical disciplines invent new objects that did not exist in Nature before, a car, a plane, etc.

Remember -- scientists discover engineers invent

Where is math here? it is on its own class.