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                                Newton 1.0
                             for Windows 3.1
                               by Paul Keet
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Introduction:

You can construct your own planetary or solar system with Newton, and
experiment with things like binary and trinary stars, the slingshot
effect, retrograde motions, energy transfer in near collisions, and
a whole lot more. To really enjoy Newton, use it in conjunction with any
good book on physics, astronomy, the solar system or space science.

Escape Key & Other Keys:

  Hitting the escape key will also start the simulation without the
outlines of the moving bodies remaining on screen.

  Learn the various keyboard commands as listed in Newton's Help file. You
will find it easier and faster to create and modify a system.

Learning Newton:

  Start by loading one of the preset scenarios and practice adding
and moving bodies in space.
  For an unusual and non-tradition (relative) view of space centre 
the screen around one of the less massive objects. A good example
would be to load the inner planets and view things from the perspective
of someone on Mercury or Earth. The motions of bodies in space will
appear illogical and convoluted. Some bodies will appear to go backwards,
a phenomenon known as recession. Viewing the scenario in this fashion
might explain why the planets so confused early astronomers.
  Once developing a proficiency in using Newton you can conduct interesting
experiments. You might explore conditions by which an intruder star might
be captured by a binary star system - or under which conditions the star simply
leaves or knocks another star out of the system. You might also see how larger 
planets perturb the orbits of smaller ones. You can also add many stars
and watch the fate of a globular cluster unfold.

Use the Help File:

  Information on the conditions of use of the program and on how to contact the
author are included in the help file. Although I can still add much documentation
to Newton, I believe that I have covered most of the basics in the help file.

The Scale of Things:

If Newton doesn't appear to work, or you get brief flashes of bodies moving by,
try adjusting some of the variables. The Earth, mass = 5.98 x 10e24 kg, orbits
the sun, mass = 1.99 x 10e30 kg, at a distance of 149.6 million km. If the Earth
is place only 40,000 km from the sun, some mighty strange things happen. If you
really are tempted by these extreme possibilities, you salvation lay in the use
of the fixed or optimized timescales.

Possible Future Versions:

  If user interest is sufficiently great in Newton I will consider creating
newer versions to include user suggestions and also to explore new possibilities
including:

    * Using Einstein's equations instead of Newton's to allow an observer
      to view the differences. This would allow the user to explore things
      such as the space around a black hole and the effects of motion on
      space and time.
    * Allowing the user to fly around a system of bodies in a spacecraft.
      The spacecraft would be navigated by the same simple method as Newton
      uses to set the initial velocity of bodies. Such a project would be
      extremely complex, however I may consider it.
    * Adding bitmap graphics. This would work well with the implementation of
      a user-controlled spacecraft.
    * Can you think of something? (Who knows? A combat version? An explorer
      probe version? Allowing users to land on planets? A 3-D Version?)

Register Your Shareware:

Please send $10 to:

     Paul Keet
     12726 Southridge Dr.,
     Surrey, B.C., Canada
     V3X 3C6

Your contribution will be used to make more and better software of this type.