Which person is known for establishing the laws of motion and gravity?

Isaac Newton is known for establishing the laws of motion and gravity. His three laws of motion explain how forces affect an object's movement, while his law of universal gravitation describes the attraction between masses.

Newton presented these ideas in Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, commonly called the Principia, published in 1687. By combining mathematics with earlier observations—including Johannes Kepler's planetary laws and Galileo Galilei's studies of falling bodies—Newton showed that the same physical principles could explain both objects on Earth and the motion of celestial bodies.

A common mix-up is crediting Newton with discovering gravity in the broadest sense. People had observed falling objects long before him; Newton's major achievement was formulating a mathematical law showing that gravity operates universally. His framework dominated classical physics for more than two centuries, although Albert Einstein's general relativity later provided a more complete description of gravity in extreme conditions.