Galileo: A Very Short Introduction

ISBN-13: 9780192854568 / Angielski / Miękka / 2001 / 152 str.

Stillman Drake

Opis

In a startling reinterpretation of Galileo's trial, Stillman Drake advances the hypothesis that Galileo's prosecution and condemnation by the Inquisition was caused not by his defiance of the Church but by the hostility of contemporary philosophers. Galileo's own beautifully lucid arguments are used in this volume to show how his scientific method was utterly divorced from the Aristotelian approach to physics; it was based on a search not for causes but for laws. Galileo's methods had an overwhelming significance for the development of modern physics, and they led to a final parting of the ways between science and philosophy. Now, in this extraordinary and concise introduction, Drake provides a stimulating view of Galileo's life and works, providing a fresh perspective on Galileo's methodology and his final incrimination.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Recenzje

stimulating and very convincing.

O autorze

Stillman Drake, FRSC, formerly Professor of the History of Science, University of Toronto, and author of Galileo: His Scientific Biography (1978). His translations of Galileo's scientific works include Cause, Experiment, and Science (1981) and Telescopes, Tides, and Tactics (1983).