The idealization of primitive mechanical experience is shown to lead to four mutually related formulations of classical mechanics based on connections, action at a distance, stresses, and collisions. For a given structure of spacetime and a given characterization of mechanical systems, fundamental laws (including Newton's law of acceleration and d'Alembert's principle) are derived from a few general principles regarding the comprehensibility of motion. Special emphasis is placed on the "secular principle," according to which the evolution of a system at the relevant time scale should not depend on finer details of the applied forces. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
