Article ID: CBB380541558

What Motion is: William Neile and the Laws of Motion (2017)

unapi

In 1668–1669 William Neile and John Wallis engaged in a protracted correspondence regarding the nature of motion. Neile was unhappy with the laws of motion that had been established by the Royal Society in three papers published in 1668, deeming them not explanations of motion at all, but mere descriptions. Neile insisted that science could not be informative without a discussion of causes, meaning that Wallis's purely kinematic account of collision could not be complete. Wallis, however, did not consider Neile’s objections to his work to be serious. Rather than engage in a discussion of the proper place of natural philosophy in science, Wallis decided to show how Neile's preferred treatment of motion lead to absurd conclusions. This dispute is offered as a case study of dispute resolution within the early Royal Society.

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Authors & Contributors
Henry, John
Palmerino, Carla Rita
Axworthy, Angela
Chalhoub, Sami
Ciocci, Argante
Ducheyne, Steffen
Journals
Galilæana: Journal of Galilean Studies
American Journal of Physics
Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
British Journal for the History of Philosophy
Bruniana & Campanelliana: Ricerche Filosofiche e Materiali Storico-testuali
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Publishers
Springer Nature
University of Minnesota
University of Toronto
Edizioni dell'Orso
Universiteit Gent (Belgium)
Concepts
Physics
Motion (physical)
Natural philosophy
Kinematics
Mathematics
Mechanics
People
Galilei, Galileo
Wallis, John
Descartes, René
Newton, Isaac
Baldi, Bernardino
Billingsley, Henry, Sir
Time Periods
17th century
16th century
18th century
20th century
Medieval
Renaissance
Places
Italy
Great Britain
Institutions
Oxford University
Royal Society of London
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