Descartes and Roberval: The Composite Pendulum and its Center of Agitation
Descartes and Roberval: The Composite Pendulum and its Center of Agitation
Author(s): Ovidiu BabeșSubject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Zeta Books
Keywords: Descartes; Roberval; center of agitation; composite pendulum;
Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with Descartes’s and Roberval’s attempts to devise and describe the center of agitation of a composite pendulum. This episode has received some attention in the recent literature. It is usually depicted as the first step in the development of a general procedure for establishing the center of oscillation of a pendulum. My aim is to explore the different physical concepts and assumptions which informed the two mathematical accounts of the composite pendulum. I will argue that force, agitation, heaviness, or resistance of air essentially meant different things for Descartes and Roberval. As a result, the physical phenomena covered by the two geometrical procedures were quite distinct, and both mathematicians envisaged different roles of these phenomena within their agenda of studying nature.
Journal: Journal of Early Modern Studies
- Issue Year: 7/2018
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 123-150
- Page Count: 28
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF