Here's a breakdown:
* Ancient Greece: Philosophers like Aristotle observed that objects fall to the ground, but didn't formulate a precise theory of gravity.
* India: The astronomer and mathematician Brahmagupta (598-668 CE) proposed that Earth has an attraction that pulls objects towards it.
* China: The scientist Shen Kuo (1031-1095) also observed the Earth's attraction and experimented with magnetism.
* Europe:
* Isaac Newton (England): In the 17th century, Newton developed the law of universal gravitation, explaining how every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force proportional to their masses and the distance between them. His work built upon the foundations laid by earlier thinkers.
So, while Newton is widely credited for formulating the modern understanding of gravity, the concept was explored and understood by many cultures before him.