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SUMMARY:Rethinking rotation in the Peripatetic Mechanica - Arthur Harris\,
  Department of History and Philosophy of Science
DTSTART:20220215T131500Z
DTEND:20220215T140000Z
UID:TALK167116@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Manu Sasidharan
DESCRIPTION:Aristotle divided the natural world into two realms: the celes
 tial spheres of the heavens revolve eternally around the sublunary domain 
 where the elements naturally rise and fall. The cosmos is structured by a 
 contrast between two simple and irreducible kinds of motion\, circular and
  rectilinear. A different view of circular motion seems to be offered in t
 he little-studied Mechanica\, attributed to Aristotle in the manuscript tr
 adition but now usually seen as the work of a Peripatetic philosopher of t
 he early third century BCE. The Mechanica understands motion on a circular
  path as the result of a combination of two rectilinear motions\, but the 
 details of this account remain unclear. What did this analysis aim to achi
 eve? Is it based on mathematical or physical principles? Why is it difficu
 lt to read? To what extent did it clash with Aristotle’s views of the na
 tural world? I shall address these questions\, arguing that the Mechanica 
 draws on the resources of geometry to support a basically physical agenda 
 and to deliver a causal explanation.
LOCATION:Darwin College\, Richard King Room
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