Camerota’s Galileo Galilei e la cultura scientifica: Between Ptolemy and Copernicus?

Document Type

Book Section

Publication Date

8-29-2021

Publication Title

Science, Method, and Argument in Galileo

Publisher

Springer, Cham

Publisher Location

Cham, Switzerland

Volume

40

First page number:

425

Last page number:

436

Abstract

This essay is a critical examination of Michele Camerota’s Galileo Galilei e la cultura scientifica nell’età della Controriforma (2004). I argue that Camerota’s biography of Galileo is welcome for its timeliness, useful for its breadth, valuable for its depth, usually well-documented, and often insightful. For example, and crucially important, Camerota seems to elaborate correctly the issue of the logical strength of Galileo’s case for the earth’s motion: that he lacked a conclusive proof, but did show that the pro-Copernican arguments were much stronger than the Tychonic as well as Ptolemaic alternatives. I also argue that other parts of Camerota’s account are questionable. For example, he seems to exaggerate Galileo’s readiness to accept Copernicanism; his commitment to the mathematization of natural phenomena; and the extent to which the Inquisition’s condemnation was for heresy rather than disobedience.

Controlled Subject

Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642; Reviews; Reasoning

Disciplines

Philosophy of Science

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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