When Isaac Newton inscribed onto parchment his now-famed laws of motion in 1687, he could have only hoped we'd be discussing them three centuries later.
Every body persists in its state of being at rest or moving uniformly straight forward, unless it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.
Corrected translation:
Every body persists in its state of being at rest or moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.
There’s no change in meaning.
‘Except insofar’ is a perfect synonym of ‘unless’.
Original version:
Every body persists in its state of being at rest or moving uniformly straight forward, unless it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.
Corrected translation:
Every body persists in its state of being at rest or moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.
There’s no change in meaning.
‘Except insofar’ is a perfect synonym of ‘unless’.
The law was always F=dp/dt, no matter the prose description.