# History of physics

I know it is a bit naive to ask in here.. but can anyone tell who was the first one to actually start talking about reference frame. Was it Newton or later development by some people of that era corrected Newtons law.
Historically i checked many places but no answers as of yet.
And who gave the idea of Pseudo forces?

## Answers and Replies

By pseudo force, do you mean "[URL [Broken] forces?

Coordinate transformations are named http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler_angles" [Broken].

Though, many times things are named in honor of people, though they didn't actually invent it. (So I could be wrong.)

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I believe the name given to simple coordinate transformations is that of Galileo.

I believe Galileo invented the idea of inertial frames of reference.

I am less sure, but however would still bet, that Galileo was the first to talk about pseudoforces, even if that's not what he called them.

I'd look into the life and works of Galileo and see if it wasn't him.

From Wikipedia:

Galileo also put forward the basic principle of relativity, that the laws of physics are the same in any system that is moving at a constant speed in a straight line, regardless of its particular speed or direction. Hence, there is no absolute motion or absolute rest. This principle provided the basic framework for Newton's laws of motion and is central to Einstein's special theory of relativity.

Andy Resnick
Did Newton actually come up with "Newton's bucket"? That is used to establish a fixed reference frame.

Galileo and Lorentz transformations are commonly mentioned...maybe there were others before them....perhaps Euclid??

Galileo and Lorentz transformations are commonly mentioned...maybe there were others before them....perhaps Euclid??

I HIGHLY doubt the greeks would have ever quantified the concept if they had it at all.

I'm pretty sure that the quote lays to rest the question about reference frames. Yes, the quote talks specifically about "inertial reference frames", but I believe these were probably the first to be introduced. That is, I believe the idea of reference frames coincides with the idea of "inertial" ones.

Perhaps an inspection of Newton's "Principia" would yield some references to earlier work. Who knows?

And it looks like D'Alembert is responsible for pseudoforces.