In French mechanical treatises of the nineteenth century, Newton’s second law of motion was frequently derived from a relativity principle. The origin of this trend is found in ingenious arguments by Huygens and Laplace, with intermediate contributions by Euler and d’Alembert. The derivations initially relied on Galilean relativity and impulsive forces. After Bélanger’s Cours de mécanique of 1847, they employed continuous forces and a stronger relativity with respect to any commonly impressed motion. The name “principle of relative motions” and the very idea of using this principle as a constructive tool were born in this context. The consequences of Poincaré’s and Einstein’s awareness of this approach are analyzed. Lastly, the legitimacy and significance of a relativity-based derivation of Newton’s second law are briefly discussed in a more philosophical vein.

中文翻译：

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从相对性原理推导出牛顿第二定律：一段被遗忘的历史

在 19 世纪的法国机械论文中，牛顿第二运动定律经常源自相对性原理。这种趋势的起源是在惠更斯和拉普拉斯的巧妙论证中发现的，欧拉和达朗贝尔的贡献居中。推导最初依赖于伽利略相对论和脉冲力。在 1847 年 Bélanger 的 Cours de mécanique 之后，他们使用了连续的力和对任何普遍印象运动的更强的相对性。“相对运动原理”这个名称以及使用该原理作为建设性工具的想法正是在这种背景下诞生的。分析了庞加莱和爱因斯坦对这种方法的认识的后果。最后，