Setting Aside All Authority

Christopher M. Graney

Description

Setting Aside All Authority is an important account and analysis of seventeenth-century scientific arguments against the Copernican system. Christopher M. Graney challenges the long-standing ideas that opponents of the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus and Galileo were primarily motivated by religion or devotion to an outdated intellectual tradition, and that they were in continual retreat in the face of telescopic discoveries.

Graney calls on newly translated works by anti-Copernican writers of the time to demonstrate that science, not religion, played an important, and arguably predominant, role in the opposition to the Copernican system. Anti-Copernicans, building on the work of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, were in fact able to build an increasingly strong scientific case against the heliocentric system at least through the middle of the seventeenth century, several decades after the advent of the telescope. The scientific case reached its apogee, Graney argues, in the 1651 New Almagest of the Italian Jesuit astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli, who used detailed telescopic observations of stars to construct a powerful scientific argument against Copernicus. Setting Aside All Authority includes the first English translation of Monsignor Francesco Ingoli’s essay to Galileo (disputing the Copernican system on the eve of the Inquisition’s condemnation of it in 1616) and excerpts from Riccioli's reports regarding his experiments with falling bodies.

Sujets

• Space Science
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Philosophy
• Copernican heliocentrism
• Giovanni Battista Riccioli
• Italy
• My Last Duchess
• Astronomy
• Giovanni Riccioli
• Tycho Brahe
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268080778
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

SETTING ASIDE ALL AUTHORITY
Setting Aside All Authority
Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the Science against Copernicus in the Age of Galileo

INCLUDING THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF
MONSIGNOR FRANCESCO INGOLI’S
essay to Galileo disputing the
Copernican system,
and the first English translation of
RICCIOLI’S REPORTS
regarding his experiments with falling bodies and with the
effect of air resistance on falling bodies.
CHRISTOPHER M. GRANEY
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
Copyright © 2015 by the University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
www.undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
E-ISBN 978-0-268-08077-8
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail] Manufactured in the United States of America --> Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data --> Graney, Christopher M., 1966– --> Setting aside all authority : Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the science against Copernicus in the age of Galileo / Christopher M. Graney. --> pages cm --> Includes bibliographical references and index. --> ISBN 978-0-268-02988-3 (paperback : alkaline paper)—<-/cip1>--> ISBN 0-268-02988-1 (paperback : alkaline paper) --> 1. Riccioli, Giovanni Battista, 1598–1671. 2. Astronomers—Italy—Biography. 3. Jesuit scientists—Italy—Biography. 4. Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473–1543. 5. Astronomy—Italy—History—17th century. 6. Science—Italy—History—17th century. I. Title. --> QB36.R386G73 2015 --> 523.2—dc23 --> 2014047949 --> ∞ The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. -->
To my sister,
Laura Kathleen Graney (1971–2013),
who had a great affection for the night sky,
and who took great pride in her brother’s work.
Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables
Acknowledgments
1. Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the New Almagest
2. The Universe that Riccioli Saw
3. The Anti-Copernican Astronomer
4. Stars and Adventitious Rays
5. Science against Copernicus, God’s Starry Armies for Copernicus
6. Jesuits on the Tower
7. 126 Arguments
8. An Angel and a Cannon
9. The Telescope against Copernicus
10. It Can No Longer Be Called “False and Absurd”
Appendix A: Francesco Ingoli’s 1616 Essay to Galileo
Appendix B: Giovanni Battista Riccioli’s Reports Regarding His Experiments with Falling Bodies
Notes
Works Cited Index 265 -->
Illustrations and Tables
Figure 1.1. Frontispiece of Giovanni Battista Riccioli’s 1651 New Almagest . Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 1.2. Details from the New Almagest frontispiece, showing Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus. Images courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 1.3. Detail from the New Almagest frontispiece, showing the world systems. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 2.1. The stars of the constellation Scorpius
Figure 2.2. The Moon partially eclipsed. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Figure 2.3. Comparison of Earth’s size to the distance to the stars
Figure 2.4. Diurnal parallax
Figure 3.1. Tycho Brahe’s observatories. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 3.2. One of Tycho Brahe’s nontelescopic instruments. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 3.3. Astronomers Johannes and Elisabeth Hevelius using a nontelescopic measuring instrument. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 3.4. A vernier caliper. Image credit: M. Colcher.
Figure 3.5. The hybrid geocentric hypothesis of Tycho Brahe. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 3.6. Annual parallax
Table 3.1. Tycho Brahe’s apparent sizes of and average distances to celestial bodies
Figure 3.7. The relative sizes of celestial bodies calculated by Tycho Brahe
Figure 3.8. The relationship between the apparent size, the physical or true size, and the distance of a celestial body
Table 3.2. Tycho Brahe’s apparent sizes of and average distances to the fixed stars
Figure 3.9. Brahe’s calculated relative size for a mid-size star in the Copernican universe
Figure 3.10. Paths of projectiles. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 4.1. The appearance of Venus changing over time, as seen by Galileo. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 4.2. Representations of Jupiter’s cloud bands, from the New Almagest . Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 4.3. A star as seen through a small aperture telescope. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 5.1. Illustrations of the Moon and Sun from Locher’s 1614 Disquisitions . Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 5.2. Diagram of phases of Venus from Locher’s 1614 Disquisitions . Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 5.3. The Jovian system as illustrated in Locher’s 1614 Disquisitions . Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 5.4. Thomas Digges’s sketch of the Copernican system. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 6.1. Pendulum diagram from the New Almagest . Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 6.2. Riccioli’s diagram of the Asinelli tower in Bologna. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 6.3. Map of the Moon from the New Almagest . Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 6.4. Detail from the New Almagest map of the Moon. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 7.1. Detail from Digges’s sketch of the Copernican system. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
Figure 7.2. Diagram from the New Almagest , showing Galileo’s hypothesis regarding the motion of a heavy ball falling from a high tower. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 7.3. Diagrams from the New Almagest, showing the motions of falling bodies on a rotating, Sun-orbiting Earth. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 8.1. Diagram representing cannon shots on a rotating Earth
Figure 8.2. Figure from the New Almagest , showing the trajectories of a cannon fired to the north versus fired to the east. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 8.3. Diagram based on a sketch by Newton, showing an object dropped from a high tower on a rotating Earth
Figure 9.1. Riccioli’s Jupiter and Saturn figures with comparison of the sizes of Sirius and Alcor. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 9.2. Riccioli’s table of the telescopic sizes of stars, from the New Almagest . Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure 9.3. Riccioli’s tables showing the calculated physical sizes of Sirius and Alcor from the New Almagest. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 134–135
Figure 9.4. The effect, or lack thereof, of the telescope on the star size question.
Figure 10.1. The Foucault pendulum at the Kentucky Science Center in Louisville
Figure 10.2. Diffraction pattern formed by light passing through a circular aperture. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Figure A.1. A mechanical orrery. Images courtesy of Todd Timberlake, Berry College.
Figure B.1. Riccioli’s diagram of the Asinelli tower in Bologna, with details. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Table B.1. New Almagest data table showing times and distances for eight-ounce clay balls dropped from varying heights
Table B.2. New Almagest data tables for pairs of balls dropped from the same height
Figure B.2. New Almagest data table showing times and distances for eight-ounce clay balls dropped from varying heights. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure B.3. New Almagest data tables for pairs of balls dropped from the same height. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke.
Figure B.4. Plot of Riccioli’s data from table B.1
Figure B.5. Plot of Riccioli’s four fully independent measurements from table B.1
Figure B.6. Plots of distance travelled vs. time for two different balls falling through air
Acknowledgments
This book would not exist if not for the general support, and very specific help, of my wife, Christina Louise Knochelmann Graney. Many, many thanks go to her. She has been urging me to consider writing a book since as early as 2010. She has also lent me her language skills. All Latin translation in this book, and in my other writings, is the result of a team effort. In this team effort, I work out the science content that the writers are trying to communicate, while she works out the grammar and insists that we have the patience to pay attention to details, so that our translation accurately reflects what the writer