Article ID: CBB000831739

Honoré Fabri and the Trojan Horse of Inertia (2008)

unapi

This paper discusses the theory of motion of the philosopher Honore Fabri (1608--1688), a senior representative of early modern Jesuit scientists. It argues that the consensus prevailing among historians -- according to which Fabri's theory of impetus is diametrically opposed to Galileo's or Descartes' concept of inertia -- is false. It shows: that Fabri carefully constructed his concept of impetus in order to easily incorporate the principle of linear conservation of motion (designated here as limited inertia), by adopting formal (rather than efficient) causality between impetus and motion and by allowing impetus to act only along straight lines; that he explicitly deemed Aristotle's famous inertial paradox not as a paradox at all; and that linear conservation of motion was not limited to counterfactual circumstances but played a significant part in his discrete theory of free fall and constituted an integral component of his general physical (and even mathematical) philosophy. However, the paper also shows that Fabri's notion of inertia was restricted to one dimension only, and therefore should indeed be considered limited. In his analysis of horizontal projectiles, Fabri explicitly rejected Galileo's important principle of superposition, and thus revealed significant constraints to his inertial thinking.

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Authors & Contributors
Roux, Sophie
Palmerino, Carla Rita
Galen Barry
Dyck, Maarten Van
Thijssen, J. M. M. H.
Schemmel, Matthias
Concepts
Physics
Motion (physical)
Momentum; inertia (mechanics)
Mathematics
Natural philosophy
Mechanics
Time Periods
17th century
16th century
Renaissance
Early modern
Places
Italy
Europe
England
Pisa (Italy)
France
Institutions
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
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