"Mathematical Disquisitions"

The Booklet of Theses Immortalized by Galileo

By: Christopher M. Graney

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Hardcover | 15 December 2017

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Hardcover
178 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 1.12

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Mathematical Disquisitions: The Booklet of Theses Immortalized by Galileo offers a new English translation of the 1614 Disquisitiones Mathematicae, which Johann Georg Locher wrote under the guidance of the German Jesuit astronomer Christoph Scheiner. The booklet, an anti-Copernican astronomical work, is of interest in large part because Galileo Galilei, who came into conflict with Scheiner over the discovery of sunspots, devoted numerous pages within his famous 1632 Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems-Ptolemaic and Copernican to ridiculing Disquisitiones. The brief text (the original was approximately one hundred pages) is heavily illustrated with dozens of original figures, making it an accessible example of "geocentric astronomy in the wake of the telescope."

The treatise provides valuable insight into the astronomical debates of the seventeenth century, a time when the question of the Earth's motion was still very much in flux. Whereas Galileo's works are readily available, there are far fewer translations of works arguing the other side. Christopher Graney's translation focuses on the mathematical and astronomical core of Locher's work and is suitable for undergraduate students in courses on the history of science, philosophy of science, astronomy, and physics.

Industry Reviews

"Christopher Graney has translated foreign terms and concepts in efficient, modern ways, often trimming from them the complicated metaphysical and rhetorical context. Many of Graney's notes explain mathematical concepts and astronomical phenomena in reference to what astronomers understand today, which will make the text more digestible to an audience familiar with and interested in modern astronomy. The text offers a nice counterbalance to the standard canon of Galileo readings students encounter." -Darin Hayton, Haverford College

"In this accessible and engaging translation, Graney makes a strong case for the value of studying the anti-Copernicans. . .The recovery of Locher's treatise demonstrates that 'Science's history matters' because it shows that true and honest debates within the scientific community have been part of the practice of modern science since its inception." -Seventeenth-Century News

"With this translation, Graney makes available to a wider range of readers Locher's ideas in a manner unmediated by the thoughts or the agenda of Galileo. It allows them to explore and assess on their own merits the arguments advanced by critics of Copernicanism in the early seventeenth century. This in turn makes it possible to understand contemporary cosmological debates in new ways." - European History Quarterly

"There is much here for Professor Graney's intended student audience as well as for other interested readers. His efforts will make the understanding of this Copernican debate richer for all." -Renaissance Quarterly

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