Galileo and Descartes on Copernicanism and the cause of the tides |
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Authors: | Tad M Schmaltz |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, India;2. Mechanical Engineering Department King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia;1. II. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany;2. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93040 Regensburg, Germany |
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Abstract: | Galileo and Descartes were on the front lines of the defense of Copernicanism against theological objections that took on special importance during the seventeenth century. Galileo attempted to overcome opposition to Copernicanism within the Catholic Church by offering a demonstration of this theory that appeals to the fact that the double motion of the earth is necessary as a cause of the tides. It turns out, however, that the details of Galileo's tidal theory compromise his demonstration. Far from attempting to provide a demonstration of the earth's motion, Descartes ultimately argued that his system is compatible with the determination of the Church that the earth is at rest. Nonetheless, Descartes's account of the cause of the tides creates difficulty for this argument. |
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Keywords: | Copernicanism Descartes Galileo Tides |
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