An example of an alternative conception:
Historically it was once thought that circular motion occurs without any force acting. This idea goes back at least to the time of Aristotle, when it was thought that dropped objects falling on earth, and planets orbiting were examples of 'natural motion' that did not require any further explanation.
This is contrary to the Newtonian perspective that sees planetary motion as accelerated motion due to a centripetal force due to gravitational attractions. (Or, indeed, due to a perspective from general relativity, that sees mass deform the geometry of space, so that a planet orbiting a star is in effect moving in a straight line through warped space – where its inertia means it already has the momentum to continue.)
Read Conceptions of planetary orbits
Read about Historical scientific conceptions
Read 'Poincaré, inertia, and a common misconception'
