The First Law

Sir Isaac Newton, the books all say

Was born in England on Christmas Day

In sixteen-hundred-forty-three

Was wrapped with the presents beneath the tree

He went to school to learn to add

Like every other lass and lad

He studied his letters and numbers too

Proud of the things that he could do 

Reading, writing, arithmetic

The last of these he picked up quick

And later used to formulate

The laws of motion he would create

At the Cambridge College of Trinity

He sat beneath an apple tree

And saw the fruit come tumbling down

And then it struck him on the crown. 

Oh, Newton's Laws, they numbered three

And were lauded for their simplicity

The work of others was the key:

Kepler, Galileo, and Ptolemy.

On the shoulders of giants Newton stood

Doing what others had wished they could

Describing why things either go or don't

Why Hula Hoops roll but boxes won't

The first of his laws, it did say 

An object in motion remains that way

When skating on a frozen pond

You'll find that you go on and on.

With little friction to decrease your speed

The laws of momentum have decreed

That your velocity will keep its rate

As long as your skates stay pointing straight

The First law also says it's true

An object at rest stays that way too

Like Daddy lounging in his chair

When Click and Clack are on the air

He'll lean back with his legs propped up

And hands wrapped round his coffee cup

'Till Mommy says to clear the table

To Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me's Peter Sagal

Daddy stacks dishes in the sink

While in your high chair you start to think

If this is certain, what you’ve heard

What comes with the Second Law, or Third?