 The discoveries of these scientists had broad implications.  First of all, the success of the new physics in unifying distinct phenomena and predicting behavior vindicated an underlying paradigm of scientific investigation and explanation.  Second, the rapid gains encouraged an optimistic view of humans' capability to understand and shape their world.  Here was a clear example of a communal activity in which one human built on and improved the work of his predecessor.  The activity resulted in the discovery of a scientific law, the law of universal gravitation, of unprecedented power (Palmer 1965, 271–273). 