Honoré Fabri and the Concept of Impetus: A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks

2011
ISBN: 978-94-007-3622-1
Verlag: Springer Netherlands

Buch, Englisch, 262 Seiten, Previously published in hardcover, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 446 g

Reihe: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science

This book discusses the impetus-based physics of the Jesuit natural philosopher and mathematician Honoré Fabri (1608-1688), a senior representative of Jesuit scientists during the period between Galileo's death (1642) and Newton's Principia (1687). It shows how Fabri, while remaining loyal to a general Aristotelian outlook, managed to reinterpret the old concept of “impetus” in such a way as to assimilate into his physics building blocks of modern science, like Galileo’s law of fall and Descartes’ principle of inertia. This account of Fabri’s theory is a novel one, since his physics is commonly considered as a dogmatic rejection of the New Science, not essentially different from the medieval impetus theory. This book shows how New Science principles were taught in Jesuit Colleges in the 1640s, thus depicting the sophisticated manner in which new ideas were settling within the lion’s den of Catholic education.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Elazar, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Wissenschaften: Theorie, Epistemologie, Methodik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: Neuzeit

Inhaltsverzeichnis

References to Fabri's Works - Honoré Fabri: A Short Biography. - Introduction. - 1. Basic Concepts - 2. Fabri and the "Second Galileo Affair". - 3. Fabri and Conservation of Rectilinear Motion. - 4. Fabri's Impetus and the Eucharist. - Conclusion - Appendix: The Proof of Convergence to Galileo's Law of Fall. - Bibliography.