Mechanics is the oldest of physical sciences. The earliest
recorded writing on the subject of mechanics are those of Aristotle and
Archimedes some two thousand years ago on the principle of lever and
buoyancy. Substantial progress come later with the formulation of the
laws of vector combination of forces by Stevinus who also formulated most of
the principles of statics. The first investigation of a dynamics problem is
credited to Galileo (1564-1620) for his experiments of falling stones.
The accurate formulation of laws of motion, as well as law of
gravitation, was made by Newton (1642-1727), who also conceived the idea
of infinitesimal in mathematical analysis. Substantial contributions
to the development of mechanics were also made by da Vinci, Varignon, Euler,
D'Alembert, Langrage, Laplace and others.
You may visit http://www.sciencebits.com/MR_Short_History for
details.
