In his work, Syntagma Philosophicum, ("Philosophical Treatise"), published posthumously in 1658, Gassendi tried to explain aspects of matter and natural phenomena of the world in terms of atoms and the void.
[4] Gassendi thought that atoms move in an empty space, classically known as the void, which contradicts the Aristotelian view that the universe is fully made of matter.
Corpuscles are single, infinitesimally small, particles that have shape, size, color, and other physical properties that alter their functions and effects in phenomena in the mechanical and biological sciences.
[6] Isaac Newton worked on optics throughout his research career, conducting various experiments and developing hypotheses to explain his results.
[8] With the publication of Opticks in 1704,[9] Newton for the first time took a clear position supporting a corpuscular interpretation, though it would fall on his followers to systemise the theory.
[10] In the 1718 edition of Opticks, Newton added several uncertain hypotheses about the nature of light, formulated as queries.
Although the previous hypotheses describe wave-like aspects of light, Newton still believed in particle-like properties.
28, he asked: "Are not all Hypotheses erroneous in which Light is supposed to consist in Pression or Motion propagated through a fluid Medium."
For such Bodies will pass through uniform Mediums in right Lines without bending into the Shadow, which is the Nature of the Rays of Light.
The concept of the material point is obviously due to observable bodies; one conceived of the material point on the analogy of movable bodies by omitting characteristics of extension, form, spatial locality, and all their 'inner' qualities, retaining only inertia, translation, and the additional concept of force.
The dominance of Newtonian natural philosophy in the eighteenth century was one of the decisive factors ensuring the prevalence of the corpuscular theory of light.
[15] Newtonians maintained that the corpuscles of light were projectiles that travelled from the source to the receiver with a finite speed.