Gravesande's main scientific work is "Physices elementa mathematica, experimentis confirmata, sive introductio ad philosophiam Newtonianam" ("Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy, Confirmed by Experiments; or, an Introduction to Newtonian Philosophy"), published in Leiden in 1720. In that book, he laid the foundations for the teaching of Newtonian mechanics through experimental demonstrations. He presented his work before audiences that included, Voltaire and Albrecht von Haller, and Émilie du Châtelet (the translator of Newton's Principia who corrected to incorporate 's Gravesande's discovery of kinetic energy). 's Gravesande's book was soon translated into English by John Theophilus Desaguliers, curator of experiments for the Royal Society.