"Gravesande in his Physices Elementa Mathematica [Vol.1; Vol. 2], 1720, explains elasticity by Newtonian attractions and repulsions. The... chapter... entitled De legibus elasticitatis [The laws of elasticity].... is of opinion that within the limits of elasticity, the force required to produce any extension is a subject for experiment only. ...he considers elastic cords, laminae and spheres (supposed built up of laminae), and finds the deflection of the beam in Galilei's problem proportional to the weight. He makes... no attempt to discuss the elastic curve."
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_History_of_the_Theory_of_Elasticity_and_of_the_Strength_of_Materials