On Galileo's Conception of Mathematical Physics

概要

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Galileo’s theory of motion was the first saccessfu1 attempt in the history of science towards the establishment of mathematical physics. This paper discusses the overall structure and genesis of his mathematical physics. The structure is presented and analyzed from three aspects: (1) Galilean abstraction or idealization, with its philosophical and methodological difficulties, (2) his mathematical method and conceptual problems that he actually confronted, with a tentative proposal of a five-stage development of his study of motion, and (3) experimental method and its five types he employed in the course of his research, as well as a concrete examination of fol.116v in Galilean MS 72. As for the origin of Galileo’s mathematico-physical approach, the author stresses the significant influence of Archimedes on Galileo, not only in theoretical contents but also in a successful presentation of an "exemplar" in the Kuhnian sense, thus rejecting a medieval scholastic influence on Galileo as well as his stereotyped image as a "Platonist" or an "experimentalist."
九州大学の論文