The Baden historian Adolf Kistner (1878 - 1940) devoted his life to the history of technology. In this first volume of his two-part work, he presents the development of physics with its groundbreaking and revolutionary discoveries. He begins with the origins of the subject in antiquity, moves through the Middle Ages, and ultimately ventures into modern times around Isaac Newton. The Publishing House of Sciences publishes historical literature by both well-known and lesser-known scientific authors, making works that have long been out of print accessible to interested readers. This book is a reprint of the original edition from 1906.