Mechanics in Sixteenth-Century Italy: Selections from Tartaglia, Benedetti, Guido Ubaldo, and Galileo

Exploring the Limits of Preclassical Mechanics

“…familiar with Euclidean geometry, he could thus have immediately recognized this implication. 35-49, andDrake 1990, Chapter 1. 107v and to relate the shape of the chain line drawn on the other side of this manuscript (and compared to the trajectory in Guidobaldo's description of his experiment) to a sequence of square numbers.…”

Exploring the Limits of Preclassical Mechanics

“…3.2], the larger a, and the smaller b, and supa b pose, if it is possible, as asserted by our opponent, that a moves (in natural motion) more swiftly than b. But the combination of a 2 1 Some such attempts are documented in the English translations of 16th century works on motion and mechanics in Drake and Drabkin 1969; for a discussion of Tartaglia's role in making the works of Archimedes accessible, see the Introduction to this collection. Therefore, according to Fig.…”

“…We have, then, two bodies of which one moves more swiftly. 438-439, andSettle 1987. 22Benedetti 1585 (English translation in Drake and Drabkin 1969). 3.2 (EN I,265) our assumption, the combination of the two bodies will move more slowly than that part which by itself moved more swiftly than the other.…”

“…61 60Tartaglia 1537; for an English translation, see Drake and Drabkin 1969. The first straight part of the trajectory thus reflects the initially dominant role of the violent motion, whereas the last straight part is in accord with the eventual dominance of the body's weight over the violent motion, which follows from a logic of contraries, as well as from the body's tendency to approach the center of the earth.…”

On the Frontlines of the Scientific Revolution: How Mersenne Learned to Love Galileo

“…See Drake and Drabkin (1969), which contains important selections from these authors in English translation, together with an introductory essay that remains an invaluable guide to the subject.…”