What if Newton's Principia had gone differently?

One book puts motion, gravity and the planets under a single set of equations.

If it had gone differently: There is no unified mathematical physics; the study of motion stays a bag of rules of thumb for another century.

The real history on Wikipedia ↗

Later turning points that leaned on Newton's Principia. Change it in the game and the ripples reach all of these.

1. 1712The practical steam engine. Without it, Power stays tied to water, wind and muscle; factories cluster on rivers and stay small.
2. 1720The Enlightenment. Without it, Absolutism keeps its intellectual cover; 'rights of man' never enters common speech.
3. 1780The Industrial Revolution. Without it, Growth stays flat and Malthusian; most people alive in 1900 live about as their great-grandparents did.
4. 1905Einstein's relativity. Without it, Physics keeps Newton's absolute space and time; the road to nuclear energy, GPS and modern cosmology is blocked.