Essays on Galileo and the History and Philosophy of Science: Volume 2 (Heritage) - Softcover

Drake, Stillman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802081649 ISBN 13: 9780802081643

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2000

Synopsis

For forty years, beginning with the publication of the first modern English translation of the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Stillman Drake was the most original and productive scholar of Galileo's scientific work. During those years, Drake published sixteen books on Galileo, including translations of almost all the major writings, and Galileo at Work, the most comprehensive study of Galileo's life and works ever written. Drake also published about 130 papers, of which nearly 100 are on Galileo and the rest on related aspects of the history and philosophy of science. The three-volume collection Essays on Galileo and the History and Philosophy of Science includes 80 of those papers.

The papers included in Volume II elaborate some often misunderstood aspects of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, and serve as an extended annotation to his monumental translation of the work. The papers cover still-controversial aspects of the Dialogue such as the notorious Tower Argument, which Drake examines by addressing its background in Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Copernicus.

One of Drake's most significant scholarly discoveries was that Galileo, early in his studies, based his theory of tides upon the diurnal and annual motions of the earth, proving that Galileo was a Copernican many years earlier than was previously supposed. Drake considered the principal purpose of the Dialogue to be the exposition of the theory of the tides in the Fourth Day, rather than direct proof of the Copernican theory.

Volume II of Stillman Drake's Essays on Galileo and the History and Philosophy of Science showcases the papers that made Drake the touchstone of international Galileo scholarship.

About this title

About the Author:

N.M. Swerdlow is Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago. T.H. LEVERE is Professor and Director, Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0802081649
• ISBN 13: 9780802081643
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 476
• Editor: Levere Trevor H., Swerdlow Noel M.