The New Physics
The Universe
Galileo was one of a generation of mathematicians who believed they understood physics better than the physicists. Physicists, then trained in Aristotle’s logical methods, understood neither the theoretical basis of mechanics nor the tradition of mathematical astronomy which they regarded as hypothetical and uncertain. A generation after Galileo, the new mathematical approach to physics triumphed in Newton’s Principia, or Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, integrated mathematics into physics.
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The Divine Plato Plato, (1491) In his dialog entitled The Timaeus, Plato taught that the cosmos is constructed from regular geometrical figures known as the Pythagorean solids. Wherever one finds an emphasis upon mathematical demonstrations in science, one may credit Plato and the Pythagoreans. |
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Works in Greek, vol. 1 Aristotle, (1495-1498) In a work entitled “On the Universe,” Aristotle argued that a 5th element, called ether or the quintessence, composes the celestial spheres that naturally rotate in place above the region where the four lower elements mix together beneath the Moon. |
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Works in Greek, vol. 2 Aristotle, (1495-1498) In a work entitled “On the Universe,” Aristotle argued that a 5th element, called ether or the quintessence, composes the celestial spheres that naturally rotate in place above the region where the four lower elements mix together beneath the Moon. |
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Works in Greek, vol 3 pt. A Aristotle, (1495-1498) In a work entitled “On the Universe,” Aristotle argued that a 5th element, called ether or the quintessence, composes the celestial spheres that naturally rotate in place above the region where the four lower elements mix together beneath the Moon. |
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Works in Greek, vol 3 pt. B Aristotle, (1495-1498) In a work entitled “On the Universe,” Aristotle argued that a 5th element, called ether or the quintessence, composes the celestial spheres that naturally rotate in place above the region where the four lower elements mix together beneath the Moon. |
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Works in Greek, vol. 4 Aristotle, (1495-1498) In a work entitled “On the Universe,” Aristotle argued that a 5th element, called ether or the quintessence, composes the celestial spheres that naturally rotate in place above the region where the four lower elements mix together beneath the Moon. |
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On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon Samos, Aristarchus of (1572) Aristarchus, the Copernicus of antiquity, proposed in the 3rd century B.C.E. that the Sun lies at the center of the universe and that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. |
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Works in Greek, vol. 5 Aristotle, (1495-1498) In a work entitled “On the Universe,” Aristotle argued that a 5th element, called ether or the quintessence, composes the celestial spheres that naturally rotate in place above the region where the four lower elements mix together beneath the Moon. |
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On the Sphere, 1511 Proclus, (1511) This work was attributed to Proclus (5th century), one of the most important Neoplatonic philosophers of late antiquity. It became one of the most popular introductions to astronomy during the Italian Renaissance, appearing in more than 70 16th-century editions. |
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Commentary on Al-Qabisi Al-Qabisi, (1512) This medieval introduction to astrology was frequently translated from Arabic into Latin. Al-Qabisi lived in the 10th century in Syria. |
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On the Sphere of the Universe bar Hiyya, Abraham (1546) Abraham bar Hiyya, also known as Savasorda, was a 12th century Jewish mathematician and astronomer in Barcelona. In this beautiful introduction to astronomy, bar Hiyya’s text appears in Hebrew alongside a Latin translation. |
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On the Sphere Sacro Bosco, Joannes de (1490) In University study from the 13th through 16th centuries, the most common introduction to the geocentric cosmos was the medieval work, On the Sphere, by Sacrobosco. |
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Cosmography, 1585 Barozzi, Francesco (1585) The illustrations in this cosmography show its indebtedness to the Sacrobosco tradition. Barozzi, a humanist scholar who lectured at the University of Padua, provided an updated introduction to observational astronomy, intended as a replacement for Sacrobosco and Peurbach. |
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On the Magnet Gilbert, William (1600) Gilbert, a physician to Queen Elisabeth I, wrote the first experimental treatise devoted to magnetism. Gilbert discerned analogies between the Earth and magnets, and reasoned that the Earth itself is a magnet. |
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Principles of Philosophy Déscartes, René (1644) In Descartes’ cosmology, each star lies at the center of a “vortex,” or gigantic pool of circulating fluid. Stars and vortices are mortal, passing into and out of existence. |
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Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds Fontenelle, (1728) In this dramatic and entertaining dialogue, Fontenelle explained Cartesian philosophy and cosmology and argued for the existence of life on other worlds. He justified a popular writing style by encouraging women and men to engage in pleasant evening conversation together on scientific topics. |
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Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687 Newton, Isaac (1687) The Copernican idea that the Earth moves as a planet required a thorough revision of physics. Galileo undertook this task in his Discourse on Two New Sciences, published 80 years after Copernicus. |
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Newtonianism for Women Algarotti, Francesco (1737) Algarotti’s popular introduction to Newtonian science went through many editions and aided in the dissemination of Newtonian ideas on the European continent. It was dedicated to Fontenelle. Like Fontenelle’s Plurality of Worlds, it was written as an entertaining dialogue. |
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An Account of a New Discovered Motion of the Fix’d Stars Bradley, James (1729) Direct observational proof of the motion of the Earth remained difficult to find, even as late as the generation of Isaac Newton. |
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On the Proper Motion of Fixed Stars Bessel, Wilhelm Scientific theories may be accepted on the basis of a weighing of many complex factors rather than a single determinative observation or crucial experiment. From antiquity, Copernicanism had been rejected due to a failure to observe stellar parallax. |
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Physical Demonstration of the Rotational Movement of the Earth Foucault, Léon (1851) The Foucault pendulum swings in a constant plane or direction, and thus reveals the rotation of the Earth turning underneath. |
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Physical Demonstration of the Rotational Movement of the Earth Foucault, Léon (1851) The Foucault pendulum swings in a constant plane or direction, and thus reveals the rotation of the Earth turning underneath. |
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The Centenary of General Relativity, misc. items Einstein, Albert (1915-2015) The 2015-2016 year is the centenary of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Einstein attributed the formulation of the principle of the relativity of motion to Galileo. |
