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How did Newton’s mechanics replace the Aristotelian view of motion?

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A diagram with labeled vector illustrations. Panel A shows vector addition with two green arrows A and B forming a parallelogram, and their sum C as a red diagonal. Panel B shows vector subtraction, with A and negative B forming resultant D. Panel C demonstrates vector components using angles and projections. Panel D uses the right-hand rule with thumbs to show the direction of the cross product E = A x B and its opposite, -E = B x A. — mechanics Figure 1: (A) The vector sum C = A + B = B + A. (B) The vector difference A + (−B) = A − B = D. (C, left) A cos θ is the component of A along B and (right) B cos θ is the component of B along A. (D, left) The right-hand rule used to find the direction of E = A × B and (right) the right-hand rule used to find the direction of −E = B × A.

Newton’s mechanics replaced the Aristotelian view of motion by providing a unified, mathematical framework that discarded the ancient distinction between terrestrial and celestial physics.12

Aristotelian physics assumed that constant motion required a constant force and that objects naturally sought a state of rest or their "natural place". In contrast, Newton’s laws of motion established that motion is a state that persists unless altered by an external force, a concept known as the law of inertia.3245

Key shifts included:
* Inertia: Newton, building on work by Galileo Galilei and René Descartes, recognized that rest and uniform motion in a straight line are physically equivalent states.45
* Universal Laws: Newton synthesized terrestrial and celestial motion by applying the same laws to both, using gravity to explain planetary orbits as elliptical paths rather than Aristotelian circular motions.152
* Dynamics: By defining force as the cause of changes in motion ( $F = m a$ ), Newton provided a quantitative method to predict the behavior of all matter, effectively ending the reliance on Aristotelian "natural" and "violent" motions.152