Meanest Foundations and Nobler Superstructures Hooke, Newton and the
This book is a historical-epistemological study of one of the most consequential breakthroughs in the history of celestial mechanics: Robert Hooke's (1635-1703) proposal to "compoun[d] the celestial motions of the planets of a direct motion by the tangent
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BOSTON STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Editors ROBERT S. COHEN, Boston University JÜRGEN RENN, Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science KOSTAS GAVROGLU, University of Athens
Editorial Advisory Board THOMAS F. GLICK, Boston University ADOLF GRÜNBAUM, University of Pittsburgh SYLVAN S. SCHWEBER, Brandeis University JOHN J. STACHEL, Boston University MARX W. WARTOFSKYt, (Editor 1960-1997)
VOLUME 229
MEANEST FOUNDATIONS ANDNOBLER SUPERSTRUCTURES Hooke, Newton and the "Compounding of the Celestiall Motions of the Planetts"
by
OFERGAL Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
'' ~·
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-90-481-6067-9 ISBN 978-94-017-2223-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-2223-0
Printedon acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2002 Softcoverreprint ofthe bardeover Istedition 2002 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
For Yi and Hagar
TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION Part A: The Historical Question 1. Gallileo' s Challenge 2. The Correspondence 3. Hooke's Programme Part B: The Historiographie Difficulty 4. Hooke vs. Newton 5. The Genius vs. The Mechanic
ix
1 1 1
2 10 12 12 14
CHAPTER 1: INFLECTION Introduction: The BadEnding Part A: The Novelty 1. Hooke's Programme 2. Setting the Question Right Part B: Employing lnflection 3. Inflection 4. Application as Manipulation Part C: Producing Inflection in the Workshop 5. Construction 6. Implementation 7. Tentative Conclusion
17 17 19 19 22
1sT INTERLUDE: PRACTICE 1. Introduction - Methodological Lessons 2. Hacking 3. The Realism S nare
59 59 63
CHAPTER 2: POWER PartA 1. Introduction 2. De Potentia Restitutiva, or: Of Spring
83 83 83 86
34
35
42
44
53
57
69
CONTENTS
viii
Part B 3. 4. 5. Parte 6. 7. 8. 9.
Horology The Spring Watch Springs and Forces The Origins of the Vibration Theory Of Spring again Springs as a Topos A Clockwork Theory of Matter and Power
102 102 108 121 127 127 131
137 140
2N° INTERLUDE: REPRESENT ATION 1. Rorty 2. 'Knowledge Of' and 'Knowledge That' 3. Hacking and Rorty
143 143 152 159
CHAPTER 3: NEWTON'S SYNTHESIS 1. Introduction 2. Newton Before and After 3. Hooke's Programme Revisited
165 165 168 200
NOTES Introduction Chapter 1: Inflection 1st Interlude: Practice Chapter 2: Clocks, Pendulums and Springs 2nd Interlude: Representation Chapter 3: Newton's Synthesis
207 207 207 210
BffiLIOGRAPY
219
INDEX
233
211
213 214
PREFACE
This book is a historical-epistemological study of one of the most consequential
