The mistery of the lost treatise (original) (raw)

TRACES OF AN INVISIBLE GIANT: SHARED KNOWLEDGE IN GALILEO'S UNPUBLISHED TREATISES

This paper discusses Galileo's unpublished treatises related to his theory of motion of which we find many traces in his extant manuscripts such as his notes on motion, manuscript 72 of the Galilean collection in Florence. It may thus seem as if this paper focuses on an aspect of the emergence of classical mechanics which is relevant only for those specialists interested in the biographical origins of Galileo's contributions. We shall argue, however, that a study of unpublished manuscripts from the perspective of a historical epistemology reveals structures of the development of scientific knowledge which tend to be obscured by focusing, as it is common, only on published writings. Such focusing on published writings is, in fact, inherent in interpreting the development of scientific knowledge as resulting from individual contributions that become effective only through publications.

Notes on Mechanics and Mathematics in Torricelli as Physics Mathematics Relationships in the History of Science

2014

In ancient Greece, the term “mechanics” was used when referring to machines and devices in general and intended to mean the study of simple machines (winch, lever, pulley, wedge, screw and inclined plane) with reference to motive powers and displacements of bodies. Historically, works considering these arguments were referred to as Mechanics (from Aristotle, Heron, Pappus to Galileo). None of the treatises entitled Mechanics avoided theoretical considerations on its object, particularly on the lever law. Moreover, there were treatises which exhausted their role in proving this law; important among them are the book on the balance by Euclid and On the Equilibrium of Planes by Archimedes. The Greek conception of mechanics is revived in the Renaissance, with a synthesis of Archimedean and Aristotelian routes. This is best represented by Mechanicorum liber by Guidobaldo dal Monte who reconsiders Mechanics by Pappus Alexandrinus, maintaining that the original purpose was to reduce simple...

Càndito C. (2015), Jacques Ozanam (1640-1718), in Cigola M. (a cura di), Distinguished Figures in Descriptive Geometry and Its Applications for Mechanism Science, vol. 30 collana "History of machine and Mechanisms", diretta da Ceccarelli M., New York, London: Springer, pp. 223-248

Michela Cigola (editor), Distinguished figure in Geometry and Mechanisms Science: Their contribution and legacy. From the middle ages to the 17th century, vo. 30 Collana "History of machine and Mechanisms", Springer, 2015

The life of Jacques Ozanam has been conditioned by the fact that he was the second-born in a well-off land-owning family, under a regime where only the first-born could inherit the family wealth. His father for this reason pushed him into clerical studies, thereby prohibiting him from carrying out scientific studies during his training. His joint interests in teaching and research lead him to not just explain with clarity and simplicity the scientific discipline that he delved into in his texts, but to also arrive at original results which demonstrate, for example the use of a method of measurement applied to perspectives and the illustration of a clever new machine using human propulsion.

Conceptual and Mathematical Structures of Mechanical Science in the Western Civilization around the 18th century[86-121].pdf

Almagest - International Journal for the History of Scientific Ideas, 2013

One may discuss the role played by mechanical science in the history of scientific ideas, particularly in physics, focusing on the significance of the relationship between physics and mathematics in describing mathematical laws in the context of a scientific theory. In the second Newtonian law of motion, space and time are crucial physical magnitudes in mechanics, but they are also mathematical magnitudes as involved in derivative operations. Above all, if we fail to acknowledge their mathematical meaning, we fail to comprehend the whole Newtonian mechanical apparatus. For instance, let us think about velocity and acceleration. In this case, the approach to conceive and define foundational mechanical objects and their mathematical interpretations changes. Generally speaking, one could prioritize mathematical solutions for Lagrange’s equations, rather than the crucial role played by collisions and geometric motion in Lazare Carnot’s operative mechanics, or Faraday’s experimental science with respect to Ampère’s mechanical approach in the electric current domain, or physico-mathematical choices in Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory. In this paper, we will focus on the historical emergence of mechanical science from a physico-mathematical standpoint and emphasize significant similarities and/or differences in mathematical approaches by some key authors of the 18th century. Attention is paid to the role of mathematical interpretation for physical objects.