What came to Newton was the connection between the fall of the apple and the motion of the planets. ...the gravitational attraction that keeps the planets orbiting around the sun and the moon orbiting around the earth was the same force that pulls apples toward the ground.
~ Sean Carroll, The Particle at the End of the Universe, p. 118
Every now and again, I'm reminded that there was a time when gravity was not a broadly understood concept; when falling apples and the motion of the planets were considered not only vastly separate events, but also were so far removed from normal life that Newton's concept was a world-changer. The incredibly fascinating piece of information is that there are still things being discovered with that kind of impact.
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