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Gassendi and l'Affaire Galilée of the Laws of Motion*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Paolo Galluzzi
Paolo Galluzzi
Affiliation:
Istituto e Museo di Storia della ScienzaFlorence
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Abstract

In the lively discussions on Galileo's laws of motion after the Pisan's death, we observe what might be called a new “Galilean affair.” That is, a trial brought against his new science of motion mainly by French and Italian Jesuits with the substantial adherence of M. Mersenne. This new trail was originated by Gassendi's presentation of Galileo's de motu not simply as a perfectly coherent doctrine, but also as a convincing argument in favor of the truth of Copernicanism.

Type
3. The Contexts of the Church, Patrons, and Colleagues: New Science and Traditional Power Structures
Information
Science in Context , Volume 13 , Issue 3-4 , Autumn-Winter 2000 , pp. 509 - 545
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

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Footnotes

*

This paper reproduces, with a few changes, the essay published in Italian in 1993 (Galluzzi 1993). Since then a few studies have been published which discuss the themes dealt with in this work, shedding new light on the protagonists of this capital discussion. Among these new contributions appear of special interest the long awaited critical edition of Baliani's De motu, edited by Giovanna Baroncelli, and the essay by Carla Rita Palmerino (Palmerino 2000). This last work presents an insightful examination of the reasons behind the evolution of the attitude of Father Mersenne in the lively European discussions on the Galilean science de motu.

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