Huygens and Barrow, Newton and Hooke: Pioneers in mathematical analysis and catastrophe theory from evolvents to quasicrystals

Huygens and Barrow, Newton and Hooke: Pioneers in mathematical analysis and catastrophe theory from evolvents to quasicrystals by Arnol'd, Vladimir I.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9783764323837.

Translated from the Russian by E.J.F. Primrose "Remarkable little book." -SIAM REVIEW V.I. Arnold, who is renowned for his lively style, retraces the beginnings of mathematical analysis and theoretical physics in the works (and the intrigues!) of the great scientists of the 17th century. Some of Huygens and Newtons ideas. several centuries ahead of their time, were developed only recently. The author follows the link between their inception and the breakthroughs in contemporary mathematics and physics. The book provides present-day generalizations of Newtons theorems on the elliptical shape of orbits and on the transcendence of abelian integrals; it offers a brief review of the theory of regular and chaotic movement in celestial mechanics, including the problem of ports in the distribution of smaller planets and a discussion of the structure of planetary rings.