In La Dioptrique (1637) René Descartes elucidated his derivation of the sine law of refraction by means of a comparison of light rays with the motion of tennis balls. In terms of a mathematical-physical model this comparison was quite problematic, as his critics then and now did not hesitate to point out. However, they misread Descartes' intention, which was to appeal in a clarifying way to the imagination of his readers in order to render his discoveries comprehensible. These readers were in the first place the circle of supporters around Constantijn Huygens. In his comparisons Descartes drew directly on the cultural meanings and the practice of tennis in the urban culture of the Dutch Republic. The tennis metaphor entered Descartes' writing in this cultural setting, providing him with a clue to understanding the rainbow. Later, however, in the Météores it figured much less prominently than in La Dioptrique.
...MoreArticle Angelini, Annarita (2013) Praecisio and Conjecture: Cusanus' Ball Game and the “Learned Ignorance” of the World. Nuncius: Annali di Storia della Scienza (p. 5).
Similar Citations
Article
Gattei, Stefano;
(2013)
Galileo and Tennis: Reconciling the New Physics with Commonsense
(/isis/citation/CBB001252889/)
Article
Beretta, Marco;
(2013)
Training Tennis Players through Natural Philosophy: From Scaino's Trattato to Garsault's Art du paumier
(/isis/citation/CBB001252887/)
Article
Sylla, Edith Dudley;
(2013)
Jacob Bernoulli and the Mathematics of Tennis
(/isis/citation/CBB001252892/)
Article
Hao Dong;
(2021)
Hobbes’s model of refraction and derivation of the sine law
(/isis/citation/CBB808807913/)
Article
Andrew Janiak;
(2015)
Space and Motion in Nature and Scripture: Galileo, Descartes, Newton
(/isis/citation/CBB462811041/)
Article
Gorham, Geoffrey;
(2005)
The Metaphysical Roots of Cartesian Physics: The Law of Rectilinear Motion
(/isis/citation/CBB000640507/)
Article
Hyslop, Scott J.;
(2014)
Algebraic Collisions
(/isis/citation/CBB001201189/)
Article
Schmaltz, Tad M.;
(2003)
Cartesian Causation: Body--Body Interaction, Motion, and Eternal Truths
(/isis/citation/CBB000340900/)
Article
Smith, Russell;
(2008)
Optical Reflection and Mechanical Rebound: The Shift from Analogy to Axiomatization in the Seventeenth Century, Part 1
(/isis/citation/CBB000775129/)
Chapter
Raymond, Dwayne;
(2009)
Parmenidean Intuitions in Descartes' Theory of the Heart's Motion
(/isis/citation/CBB001201158/)
Article
Katherine Brading;
Marius Stan;
(2021)
How Physics Flew the Philosophers' Nest
(/isis/citation/CBB008141627/)
Chapter
Roux, Sophie;
(2006)
Découvrir le principe d'inertie
(/isis/citation/CBB001024285/)
Book
Slowik, Edward;
(2002)
Cartesian Spacetime. Descartes' Physics and the Relational Theory of Space and Motion
(/isis/citation/CBB000640372/)
Chapter
Alexandrescu, Vlad;
(2009)
The Double Question of the Individuation of Physical Bodies in Descartes
(/isis/citation/CBB001021826/)
Article
Platt, Andrew R.;
(2011)
Divine Activity and Motive Power in Descartes's Physics
(/isis/citation/CBB001035113/)
Article
Smith, Russell;
(2008)
Optical Reflection and Mechanical Rebound: The Shift from Analogy to Axiomatization in the Seventeenth Century, Part 2
(/isis/citation/CBB000775172/)
Article
Carraud, Vincent;
(2005)
Approfondir trop et parler de tout: Les Principia philosophiae dans les Pensées (note complémentaire sur “Disproportion de l'homme”)
(/isis/citation/CBB000670887/)
Article
Galen Barry;
(2021)
Spinoza on the Resistance of Bodies
(/isis/citation/CBB170992423/)
Article
Janiak, Andrew;
(2010)
Substance and Action in Descartes and Newton
(/isis/citation/CBB001221446/)
Article
Buzon, Frédéric de;
(2005)
Repos ou mouvement conspirant: Leibniz et les articles 54 et 55 de la partie II des Principia philosophiae
(/isis/citation/CBB000670891/)
Be the first to comment!