1588-1637

Dutch physicist who first formulated the principle of inertia—bodies in motion continue in motion unless impeded—though applying it to circular motions as well as rectilinear (1613) ones. He also discovered the law of uniformly accelerated motion for bodies falling in vacuo (1618), determined that the velocity of water out-flowing from a container bottom varies as the square root of water-column height (1615), and derived the relationship between pressure and volume for measured quantities of air (1626).