An Explication of the First Causes of Action in Matter, and of the Cause of Gravitation by C. Colden. Repr. by C. Colden: Volume 7

An Explication Of The First Causes Of Action In Matter, And Of The Cause Of Gravitation By Cadwallader Colden. This work presents a philosophical-physical inquiry into the nature of matter, motion, and force. Colden argues that every substance conceived as quantity is extended, and that the essential properties of matter split into distinct kinds: resisting (inertia), moving, and elastic (the ether). He develops a programmatic account of how these agents interact, insisting that resistance and motion cannot be the same thing and that force arises from a combination of agents rather than a single cause. The treatise introduces momentum as a product of the resisting power and motion, and it posits the ether as a universal medium through which action is communicated. Gravity and tides, he suggests, emerge from the joint actions of moving, resisting, and elastic powers within this ether, rather than from simple attraction. He engages with Newtonian ideas, yet remains critical of purely mechanical explanations, advocating a view that seeks to explain natural phenomena through a synthesis of action, reaction, and mediation by ether. The work is a landmark in early debates about the nature of matter, space, and gravitation, offering a historically important perspective on pre?Newtonian and Newtonian?influenced physics.