1300-1358

French Physicist and Philosopher

More than three centuries before Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Jean Buridan anticipated Newton's first law of motion when he stated that an object in motion will remain moving. This put him at odds with the prevailing idea, passed down from Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), who had maintained that a moving object requires continual application of force to keep it in motion.

Born at Béthune, in the French district of Artois, Buridan studied philosophy at the University of Paris under William of Ockham (c. 1290-1349). He went on to an appointment as professor at his alma mater, then took a position as university rector from 1328 to 1340. In 1345, Buridan became an ambassador from the university to the papal court, at that time located in Avignon, France.

Buridan wrote widely, and his works include Compendium logicae, Summa de dialectica, Consequentie, and a series...