Breaking the circle: the emergence of Archimedean mechanics in the late Renaissance (Q932073)

The author describes how in the 16th century the Archimedean approach to the lever and more generally to the five principal machines (lever, pulley, wheel, wedge and screw) replaced the Aristotelian approach. Tartaglia, who followed Jordanus, represented the Aristotelian approach; its goal was a theory based on a priori principles. Baldi and Dal Monte, pupils of Commandino, whose translations of Pappus and Archimedes were very in fluential, represented the Archimedean approach; its goal was a deductive theory based on principles that are empirically obvious or confirmed by the empirical correctness of their implications. The author argues that it was the Archimedean approach, which returns in the work of Galilei, Torricelli and Roberval, that made progress possible. He criticises Duhem who has argued the opposite: according to Duhem Aristotelian doctrines contributed significantly to the rise of modern mechanics.