The second edition of Principia is published with Cotes's preface
In 1713 the second edition of Principia appeared at Cambridge, edited by Roger Cotes. It is a dated revision, not the 1687 book and not the 1726 third edition.
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In 1713 the second edition of Principia appeared at Cambridge, edited by Roger Cotes. It is a dated revision, not the 1687 book and not the 1726 third edition. Isaac Newton's documented role is: He revised the book. Roger Cotes edited at Cambridge and wrote the anti-Cartesian preface. The University press printed.
Context
Cotes died in 1716. Bentley pushed Cambridge printing. The General Scholium against hypotheses dates from this edition. Sharing editorship with Cotes is required. The setting of The second edition of Principia is published with Cotes's preface is the public file around 1713-07-01. Driver edu-digital-learning-access is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.
Shared responsibility is part of The second edition of Principia is published with Cotes's preface. Naming Isaac Newton does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1713-07-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.
Why it matters
High confidence on 1713. The welfare reading on this path is improving.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Isaac Newton
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.44 · verified
He revised the book. Roger Cotes edited at Cambridge and wrote the anti-Cartesian preface. The University press printed.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
No public driver impacts are listed for this fact.
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Project Gutenberg — Newton's Principia, Motte translation as public English carrierProject Gutenberg · High credibility · verified
- 2.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Newton's philosophy, opticsStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
SEP independently discusses the second edition and General Scholium. Gutenberg is a later English access carrier. Official carrier: Project Gutenberg — Principia public English carrier of the work later revised in 1713 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28233 (opens in a new tab); Project Gutenberg). Independent carrier: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — later Principia editions (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton/ (opens in a new tab); Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Established: the second edition was published in 1713. Not established: that the General Scholium is a unique theology statute. Established: a sourced public record of The second edition of Principia is published with Cotes's preface under 1713-07-01.
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.
If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.
Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mixed effects of The second edition of Principia is published with Cotes's preface are separate paths.
That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
No causal path is recorded: this fact is not linked to a driver.
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). The second edition of Principia is published with Cotes's preface. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/newton-principia-2ed-1713
https://factrail.ai/facts/newton-principia-2ed-1713
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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