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The Problem of Apodictic Proof in Early Seventeenth-Century Mechanics. Galileo, Guevara, and the Jesuits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

William A. Wallace
William A. Wallace
Affiliation:
Committee on the History and Philosophy of ScienceThe University of Maryland
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Abstract

The argument developed herein, a countertheme to the Merton thesis, is that the ideal of science pursued by Galileo and his contemporaries in Italy would be unaffected by their Catholic faith if it could achieve apodictic proof in the subject of its investigations, in which case it would attain truth – the very goal sought by that faith. Unfortunately such proof was hard to come by in early seventeenth-century mechanics. A case study is proposed to show Galileo's difficulty demonstrating the tensile strength of columns in mathematical physics on the basis of improper suppositions, contrasting these with the suppositions of a contemporary, Giovanni de Guevara. The case study casts new light on the subject of Galileo's atomism and its relation to the Eucharist, refuting Redondi's claim that this was the real motive behind Galileo's trial in 1633. A further lesson relating to the Merton thesis can also be drawn, namely, that while challenges to science from religious orthodoxy may appear as temporary obstacles, in the long run they are an aid to science in its efforts to bring mankind closer to the truth.

Type
Article
Information
Science in Context , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Spring 1989 , pp. 67 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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