History and Philosophy of Science by Maarten Van Dyck
Marco Sgarbi (ed), Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2018
The introduction of laws of nature is often seen as one of the hallmarks of the Scientific Revolu... more The introduction of laws of nature is often seen as one of the hallmarks of the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. The new sciences are thought to have introduced the revolutionary idea that explanations of natural phenomena have to be grounded in exceptionless regularities of universal scope, i. e. laws of nature. The use of legal terminology to talk about natural regularities has a longer history, though. This article traces these earlier uses.
Marco Sgarbi (ed), Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2019
Guidobaldo del Monte (1545 -1607) was one of the most prominent Italian mathematicians from the s... more Guidobaldo del Monte (1545 -1607) was one of the most prominent Italian mathematicians from the second half of the sixteenth century. He published influential texts on Archimedean mechanics and perspective that contributed substantially to a better understanding of the mathematical foundations of these sciences. He was also one of the most important patrons of the young Galileo. Biography Guidobaldo del Monte (Pesaro, 11 January 1545 -Pesaro, 6 January 1607) was one of the most prominent Italian mathematicians from the second half of the sixteenth century. He was a nobleman from the Duchy of Urbino, and occupied a central position at the courts of the Dukes Guidobaldo II and Francesco II della Rovere for large part of his life, until he fell out of favor in the 1590's ([7] is a recent source that gathers all available biographical information). He studied at the University of Padua, but he probably received most of his mathematical education from Federico Commandino at court in Urbino. He combined practical work as an architect, designer of instruments, and surveyor of fortifications (see numerous contributions in [3]), with theoretical works on astronomy, perspective and mechanics. In cosmology he appears to have been an orthodox Aristotelian, as judged by his reaction to the supernova of 1604 [4, 8]. Notwithstanding this latter position, he was also one of the most important patrons of the young Galileo. Together with his brother, Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte (well known for having been a patron of Caravaggio), he helped Galileo secure his first teaching positions at the University of Pisa (in 1589) and Padua
Marco Sgarbi (ed), Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2019
The concept of impetus denoted the transmission of a power from the mover to the object moved. Ma... more The concept of impetus denoted the transmission of a power from the mover to the object moved. Many authors resorted to this concept to explain why a projectile keeps on moving when no longer in contact with its initial mover. But its application went further, as impetus was also appealed to in attempts to explain the acceleration of falling bodies or the motion of the heavens. It was widely applied in Renaissance natural philosophy, but it also raised a number of ontological questions concerning its precise nature.
Hermes, 2018
In de achtste eeuw van onze tijdsrekening merkte de Engelse monnik Beda op dat alle tijdsverloop ... more In de achtste eeuw van onze tijdsrekening merkte de Engelse monnik Beda op dat alle tijdsverloop geteld kon worden "volgens de natuur, volgens de gewoonte, of op een zekere manier volgens autoriteit". De natuur bepaalt dat de zon beweegt met een zekere regelmaat, en legt op die manier de periodes van een dag en een jaar vast. Mensen hebben de gewoonte om een periode van dertig natuurlijke dagen te identificeren met een maand. En de goddelijke autoriteit heeft bij de schepping van de wereld bepaald dat een periode van zeven dagen een bijzondere betekenis heeft, die we nog steeds markeren door de dagen van de week te onderscheiden.
Philosophy of Science, 2018
Galileo proposed what has been called a proto-inertial principle, according to which a body in ho... more Galileo proposed what has been called a proto-inertial principle, according to which a body in horizontal motion will conserve its motion. This statement is only true in counterfactual circumstances where no impediments are present. This paper analyzes how Galileo could have been justified in ascribing definite properties to this idealized motion. This analysis is then used to better understand the relation of Galileo's proto-inertial principle to the classical inertial principle.
This online book accompanies an exhibition that tells the story of the measurement of time, from ... more This online book accompanies an exhibition that tells the story of the measurement of time, from the late Middle Ages till the nineteenth century: www.indebanvandetijd.be
Eppur si muove: Doing History and Philosophy of Science with Peter Machamer
In his "Galileo's machines, his mathematics, and his experiments" , Peter Machamer proposed to ca... more In his "Galileo's machines, his mathematics, and his experiments" , Peter Machamer proposed to call Galileo's use of the simple machines "models of intelligibility". These machines function as models of intelligibility by "directing attention to what is important in a problem and by exhibiting what relations exist among those important elements" [14, p.72]. As models they made it possible for Galileo to search in a directed way for the mathematical structures that could characterize phenomena of motion, such as the free fall or projection of bodies. The simple machines, among which the Archimedean balance occupied a privileged place, were ideally suited to this role: they are (1) material objects, (2) for which there existed successful mathematical treatments of the relations between their basic properties, and (3) that could be easily manipulated in a controlled way. They showed how to see ideal mathematical structures within concrete and material phenomena, a way of looking that was informed by the use of specific mathematical techniques (proportional geometry and Euclidean style proofs), representational conventions (allowing the coordination of the phenomenon with the mathematical structure), and a practice in which the objects treated were actively manipulated and dealt with to achieve certain goals.
forthcoming in Historia Mathematica 2014, 2014
Akin to the mathematical recreations, John Wilkins' Mathematicall Magick (1648) elaborates the pl... more Akin to the mathematical recreations, John Wilkins' Mathematicall Magick (1648) elaborates the pleasant, useful and wondrous part of practical mathematics, dealing in particular with its material culture of machines and instruments. We contextualize the Mathematicall Magick by studying its institutional setting and its place within changing conceptions of art, nature, religion and mathematics. We devote special attention to the way Wilkins inscribes mechanical innovations within a discourse of wonder. Instead of treating ‘wonder’ as a monolithic category, we present a typology, showing that wonders were not only recreative, but were meant to inspire Wilkins' readers to new mathematical inventions.
Historia Mathematica, 2014
kin to the mathematical recreations, John Wilkins' Mathematicall Magick (1648) elaborates the ple... more kin to the mathematical recreations, John Wilkins' Mathematicall Magick (1648) elaborates the pleasant, useful and wondrous part of practical mathematics, dealing in particular with its material culture of machines and instruments. We contextualize the Mathematicall Magick by studying its institutional setting and its place within changing conceptions of art, nature, religion and mathematics. We devote special attention to the way Wilkins inscribes mechanical innovations within a discourse of wonder. Instead of treating ‘wonder’ as a monolithic category, we present a typology, showing that wonders were not only recreative, but were meant to inspire Wilkins' readers to new mathematical inventions.
Foundations of Science, 2014
But surpassing all stupendous inventions, what sublimity of mind was his who dreamed of finding m... more But surpassing all stupendous inventions, what sublimity of mind was his who dreamed of finding means to communicate his deepest thoughts to any other person, though distant by mighty intervals of space and time! Of talking with those who are in India; of speaking to those who are not yet born and will not be born for a thousand or ten thousand years; and with what facility, by the different arrangements of twenty characters upon a page!" (Galileo 2001, pp. 120-1)
Guidobaldo del Monte (1545-1607). Theory and Practice of the Mathematical Practices from Urbino to Europe. A. Becchi, D. Bertoloni Meli, & E. Gamba (eds.) , 2013
Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 2009
In this paper I challenge Paolo Palmieri's reading of the Mach-Vailati debate on Archimedes's pro... more In this paper I challenge Paolo Palmieri's reading of the Mach-Vailati debate on Archimedes's proof of the law of the lever. I argue that the actual import of the debate concerns the possible epistemic (as opposed to merely pragmatic) role of mathematical arguments in empirical physics, and that construed in this light Vailati carries the upper hand. This claim is defended by showing that Archimedes's proof of the law of the lever is not a way of appealing to a non-empirical source of information, but a way of explicating the mathematical structure that can represent the empirical information at our disposal in the most general way.
Foundations of Science, 2013
Foundations of Science, 2012
Op 17 januari 2008 zou paus Benedictus XVI een lezing geven bij de opening van het academiejaar a... more Op 17 januari 2008 zou paus Benedictus XVI een lezing geven bij de opening van het academiejaar aan La Sapienza, de grootste universiteit in Rome. Deze vermaarde universiteit werd in 1303 gesticht door paus Bonifatius VIII, maar staat sinds 1870 niet langer onder pauselijk gezag. Zoals te verwachten viel in een land dat zo sterk gepolariseerd is op de katholiek-seculiere as, stuitte de aangekondigde lezing op veel weerstand in Italië. Een groep professoren tekende verzet aan in een open brief, en na de gangbare studentenprotesten en het bijhorende getouwtrek in allerhande media besloot de paus zijn lezing af te zeggen. De korte open brief is erg interessant omwille van de geijkte strategie die erin gebruikt werd om duidelijk te maken waarom de religieuze leider niet gewenst was bij een officiële gebeurtenis aan een seculiere universiteit. De academici, die beweerden te spreken in de naam van het seculiere karakter van wetenschap en cultuur, toonden zich "beledigd en vernederd" door een uitspraak die Joseph Ratzinger als kardinaal had gedaan in een lezing uit 1990, toen hij de woorden van de wetenschapsfilosoof Paul
Philosophy of science, 2005
Starting with a discussion of what I call Koyré's paradox of conceptual novelty, I introduce the ... more Starting with a discussion of what I call Koyré's paradox of conceptual novelty, I introduce the ideas of Damerow et al. on the establishment of classical mechanics in Galileo's work. I then argue that although their view on the nature of Galileo's conceptual innovation is convincing, it misses an essential element: Galileo's use of the experiments described in the first day of the Two New Sciences. I describe these experiments and analyze their function. Central to my analysis is the idea that Galileo's pendulum experiments serve to secure the reference of his theoretical models in actually occurring cases of free fall. In this way Galileo's experiments constitute an essential part of the meaning of the new concepts of classical mechanics.
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History and Philosophy of Science by Maarten Van Dyck
that this standard view is too restrictive: the practical value of causal
knowledge is wider. In §3 we introduce the distinction between ‘manipulative policy’ and ‘selective policy’ as a theoretical framework to account for this wider practical value.
This book brings together a collection of papers that address all these and related questions which were initially posed at a conference held in Ghent (Belgium) in August 2009. Scholars working on philosophy of science, history of philosophy and history of mathematics provide an insight into the role and function of symbolic representations in the development of early modern mathematics. The papers cover the period from early abbaco arithmetic and algebra (14h century) up to Leibniz (early 18th century).