Isaac Newton formulated the three laws of motion and universal gravitation in his 1687 work Principia.
Newton published Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in Latin in 1687. The book presented a mathematical framework linking motion on Earth with the movement of celestial bodies, including planets and comets.
His three laws describe inertia, the relationship between force and acceleration, and action and reaction. The law of universal gravitation states that every mass attracts every other mass, with the force depending on their masses and distance.
Newton built on earlier work by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler, including Kepler’s mathematical descriptions of planetary orbits. His mechanics became the foundation of classical physics and remained dominant until developments in relativity and quantum mechanics. Newton also made major contributions to optics, mathematics, and alchemy.