The Clockwork Universe Theory is a theory, established by Isaac Newton, as to the origins of the universe. Sir Isaac Newton, (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. ... Universe is a word derived from the Old French univers, which in turn comes from the Latin roots unus (one) and versus (a form of vertere, to turn). Based on observations of the observable universe, physicists attempt to describe the whole of space-time, including all matter and energy and...

A "clockwork universe" can be thought of as being a clock wound up by God and ticking along, as a perfect machine, with its gears governed by the laws of physics. This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... A physical law or a law of nature is a scientific generalization based on empirical observations. ...

What sets this theory apart from others is the idea that God's only contribution to the universe was to set everything in motion, and from there the laws of science took hold and have governed every sequence of events since that time. This idea was very popular in the Enlightenment, when scientists realized that Newton's laws of motion, including the law of universal gravitation, could explain the behavior of the solar system. The Age of Enlightenment (from the German word Aufklärung, meaning Enlightenment) refers to eighteenth century in European and American philosophy, or the longer period including the seventeenth century and the Age of Reason. ... Newtons First and Second laws, in Latin, from the original 1687 edition of the Principia Mathematica. ... Gravity redirects here. ... Major features of the Solar System (not to scale, from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth & Moon, and Mars. ...

A notable exclusion from this theory though is free will, since all things have already been set in motion and are just parts of a predictable machine. Newton feared that this notion of "everything is predetermined" would lead to atheism. Free will is the philosophical doctrine that holds that our choices are ultimately up to ourselves. ... The 18th-century French author Baron dHolbach was one of the first self-described atheists. ...

This theory was undermined by the second law of thermodynamics ( the total entropy of any isolated thermodynamic system tends to increase over time, approaching a maximum value) and quantum physics with its unpredictable random behavior. Thermodynamics (from the Greek thermos meaning heat and dynamics meaning power) is a branch of physics that studies the effects of changes in temperature, pressure, and volume on physical systems at the macroscopic scale by analyzing the collective motion of their particles using statistics. ... Ice melting - classic example of entropy increasing[1] described in 1862 by Rudolf Clausius as an increase in the disgregation of the molecules of the body of ice. ... Fig. ...

World-machine

A similar concept goes back, at least, to John of Sacrobosco's early 13th century introduction to astronomy: On the Sphere. Sacrobosco spoke of the universe as the machina mundi, the machine of the world, suggesting that the reported eclipse of the Sun at the crucifixion of Jesus was a disturbance of the order of that machine.^[1] Johannes de Sacrobosco or Sacro Bosco (John of Holywood, c. ... De sphaera mundi (Latin meaning Of the Spheres of Worlds, sometimes rendered The Sphere of the Cosmos; the Latin title is also given as Tractatus de sphaera, or simply De sphaera) is a medieval astronomy textbook written by Johannes de Sacrobosco c. ...

Isaac Newton's conception of the universe as one huge, regulated and uniform machine that operated according to natural laws in absolute time, space, and motion. In this new world that Newton created, God was the master-builder, who created the perfect machine and let it run. God was the Prime Mover, who brought into being the world in its lawfulness, regularity, and beauty. This view of God as the creator, who stood aside from his work and didn’t get involved directly with humanity was called Deism (which predates Newton) and was accepted by many who supported the “new philosophy” Sir Isaac Newton, (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. ... This article is about devices that perform tasks. ... Natural law or the law of nature (Latin lex naturalis) is a law whose content is set by nature, and that therefore has validity everywhere. ... A pocket watch, a device used to keep time There are two distinct views on the meaning of time. ... Space has been an interest for philosophers and scientists for much of human history. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Deism is a religious philosophy and movement that became prominent in England, France, and the United States in the 17th and 18th centuries. ...

See also

• Isaac Newton
• Isaac Newton's religious views

Sir Isaac Newton, (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. ... Sir Isaac Newton at 46 in Godfrey Knellers 1689 portrait The law of gravity became Sir Isaac Newtons best-known discovery. ...

References

1. ^ John of Sacrbosco, On the Sphere, quoted in Edward Grant, A Source Book in Medieval Science, (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1974), p. 465.

1. A Short Scheme of the True Religion, manuscript quoted in Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton by Sir David Brewster, Edinburgh, 1850; cited in; ibid, p. 65.
2. Webb, R.K. ed. Knud Haakonssen. "The emergence of Rational Dissent." Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.
3. Westfall, Richard S. Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England. p201

External links

• The Clockwork Universe The Physical World Editors John Bolton, Alan Durrant, Robert Lambourne, Joy Manners, Andrew Norton.