1688-1742

Dutch physicist best known among his contemporaries as an exponent of Newtonianism, in particular for his Mathematical Elements of Physics (1720, 1721), which was easily the most influential semi-popular account of Newton's ideas prior to 1750. 'sGravesande elaborated on the methodology of Isaac Newton's work and helped to created a new school of experimental physics in Holland. 'sGravesande's 1722 free-fall experiments supported Gottfried Leibniz's interpretation of vis viva—"living force"—as the force of a body in motion.