Crediting Newton With Too Much

Unlike many other scientific laws, gravity is directly observable from the perspective of any person at the macroscopic level.  No one has to read about gravity or be told about it in order to realize its presence in daily life.  Isaac Newton is credited with formally investigating gravity after seeing an apple drop down from a tree in the 1660s, yet some go beyond crediting him with this: they word their statements as if Newton discovered gravity for the first time in human history.  This is not to say that Newton himself ever made such a claim, but that many people speak or write as if they believe this claim in the present time.

If this idea was sincerely, directly affirmed by someone, it would scarcely be difficult to refute it.  Anyone at all who observed objects falling to the ground before Newton's reported encounter with the apple tree would have experienced gravity firsthand.  It is foolish to think that Newton was the first person in the historical record to notice gravitation, as if gravity went unnoticed by all of humanity until the 1660s.  There may have been no research or reflection on the nature of gravity beyond the everyday examples of it that anyone is capable of seeing, but this in no way means that gravity did not exist or that it was not noticeable.

Scientific phenomena that can be observed at the macroscopic level without modern equipment do not have to be revealed by scientists (which would only be an appeal to authority as it is).  By their very nature, they are directly observable.  It is completely up in the air whether many details of one's sensory perceptions correspond to the actual external world, but it is easy to realize that one's sensory perceptions do  feature laws of nature, otherwise called scientific laws.  Perceptions of gravity cannot be legitimately denied.

It is impossible to merely watch an apple--or any other object--fall to the ground and know if outer space features zero gravity, if quantum gravity differs from macroscopic gravity, or what the exact cause of gravity is.  However, absolutely no one who even slightly reflects on their everyday experiences would be surprised by Newton's observation of the apple falling from a tree.  Anyone whose body does not float above the ground is experiencing gravitational attraction.

Basic scientific information is not above the reach of any "layperson" who is willing to assess the perceived nature of their sensory experiences.  All it takes to understand the aspects of gravity that can be immediately perceived is the ability to contemplate that which the sense of sight reports on a regular basis.  Newton may have done much to advance theories of gravitation, but he neither invented nor discovered the fundamental law of gravity.  Every person who witnessed an object fall to the ground before the 1660s would have been quite aware of gravity.